ping

noun

\ ˈpiŋ

Definition of ping

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : a sharp sound like that of a striking bullet

2 : knock sense 2b

3 : the pulse of sound waves reflected from or emitted by a submerged object in submarine signaling or detection and heard by special apparatus Baylor … trained his sound unit from one bearing to another, listening for submarines. It threw out a directional sound beam, a series of "pings." These pings, if they hit a solid object like a submarine, reflected back to the operator.— William J. Lederer

4 : a signal sent from one computer to another across a network for usually diagnostic purposes (as to determine network speed or the status of the target computer) With Napster, however, all you have to do is type in the name of the song or artist and up will pop 2,745 Phish songs sorted by the host computer's type of modem connection and ping rate.— Karl Taro Greenfeld

ping

verb

pinged; pinging; pings

Definition of ping (Entry 2 of 3)

intransitive verb

1 : to make a ping

2 : to ricochet with a ping gravel pinging off … the car— Margaret Atwood

transitive verb

1 : to cause to ping ping a bell

2 : to locate (something, such as a submerged object or submarine) by detecting the reflection of a pulse of sound waves : to send out a ping (see ping entry 1 sense 3) in order to locate (something) We will have to follow this big old boy on the surface and then try to ping him with the sonar when he dives.— Corwin Ericson

3a : to send a signal to (a computer) in order to determine its status or the status of the connecting network Without realizing what he was doing, he pinged every server in a .gov domain. Next day, his ISP canceled his account; the retribution was swift and uncompromising.— Bill Machrone

b : to send a signal to (a device, such as a cell phone) in order to determine its status or location Howell officers warned police agencies across the state. … Police pinged the man's phone to get its location.— Andrew Ford

c : to send a usually brief message (such as a text message) or notification to (a person, a person's phone, etc.) … provides an opportunity to check the time or see who pinged you while you were coming down the mountain … — Wired

Ping

geographical name

\ ˈpiŋ

Definition of Ping (Entry 3 of 3)

river 360 miles (579 kilometers) long in western Thailand flowing south-southeast to join the Nan River forming the Chao Phraya River

Examples of ping in a Sentence

Verb

Pebbles pinged off the car.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

As the particles move around, there is a chance of being pinged out of the trap by a collision. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Technical tour-de-force traps positrons," 11 Dec. 2018 The swimsuit model went head-to-head with Giant's Super Bowl champion Jason Pierre-Paul, challenging him to a variety of games, from a runway showdown to ping-pong to throwing a football. — Joy Hernon, Marie Claire, "Shower Like A Supermodel: Kate Upton's Secret to Glowing Skin," 27 Apr. 2012 Vacations are some of the best times to catch up on all of those books sitting unread on our bookshelves—chalk it up to those eight-hour flights, long train rides, and that inbox not pinging constantly with work emails. — Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Books We Traveled With This Year: Women Who Travel Podcast," 24 Dec. 2018 Ivan Perisic collected a loose ball off a cross in the Russian penalty area, took a touch to give himself a clean look on goal, and then pings it off the inside of the post! — Rory Smith, New York Times, "Russia Finally Falls, Leaving a Trail of Admirers and Doubters," 8 July 2018 The Germans pinged in cross after cross, hoping to win the aerial battle. — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, "World Cup Curse Hits Defending Champion Germany," 27 June 2018 The sheriff has been criticized for relying on an outdated Code Red system that requires opting in to alerts rather than a mass Amber Alert-style warning that pings nearly every cellphone, TV and radio in the area. — Paul Elias, The Seattle Times, "Back-to-back crises boost California sheriff’s profile," 28 Nov. 2018 On Fysical’s map, a bright red box near the Capitol steps indicated the general location of President Trump and those around him, cellphones pinging away. — Kaitlyn Tiffany, Vox, "Advertisers can easily track you, your kid, your doctor, and the president," 11 Dec. 2018 There were no Facebook posts about the Hart's final road trip, as their phones pinged off cell towers down the Oregon coast into California. — Lauren Smiley, Glamour, "Two White Moms. Six Black Kids. One Unthinkable Tragedy. A Look Inside the ‘Perfect’ Hart Family," 6 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ping.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.