ping

1 of 2

noun

ˈpiŋ 

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

If the ping bounces back, that means it hit an object—like a whale, a ship, or another submarine.

—Christopher Beam

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)

When a program sends … a ping, your system is designed to send back an "I'm here!" …

—Andrea Eldridge

ping

2 of 2

verb

pinged; pinging; pings

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

3

a

: 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

Examples of ping in a Sentence

Verb

Pebbles pinged off the car.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Detectives traced the ownership of the car back to a Pueblo address and then honed in on a cellphone that pinged cell towers in Pueblo, Littleton, and Denver during the time before, during, and after the shooting. —Austen Erblat, CBS News, 7 Mar. 2026

Warroad sophomore Conner Lund fired a shot from the top of the right circle, pinging off the post and in to give the Warriors the lead 74 seconds into the game. —Andrew Cornelius, Twin Cities, 7 Mar. 2026

Producer Kid Harpoon uses Disco’s busy drums (often from Tom Skinner of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s the Smile) to meet pinging bass and melodic elements that systematically stack underneath Styles’s vocals. —Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026

The complaint says the victim's phone pinged last on the cell tower near the 1400 block of West Highland Avenue, and there was CCTV footage of the suspect going north in the alleyway between North 13th Street and North 14th Street in the 1100 block. —Chris Ramirez, jsonline.com, 3 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

imitative

First Known Use

Noun

1855, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1855, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Phrases Containing ping

• ping-pong

Rhymes for ping

• bing
• bring
• ching
• cling
• ding
• fling
• ging
• hing
• jing
• kling
• ling
• ming

Kids Definition

ping

noun

ˈpiŋ

1

: a sharp sound like that of a bullet striking

2

: knock entry 2 sense 3b

ping verb

Geographical Definition

Ping

geographical name

ˈpiŋ 

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