ping

1 of 2

noun

1
: a sharp sound like that of a striking bullet
2
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

2 of 2

verb

pinged; pinging; pings

intransitive verb

1
: to make a ping
2
: to ricochet with a ping
gravel pinging off … the carMargaret 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
This will warn users when potentially fake cellular base stations are pinging devices for phone or SIM identifiers or pushing those devices onto unsecured cellular connections. Zak Doffman, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024 The film follows chef Almut (Florence Pugh) and her husband, Tobias (Andrew Garfield), tracking their love story across time and pinging back and forth from their meet-cute to her eventual death from cancer within its non-linear timeline. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024 Other national polling averages show that the race for the battleground states has pinged back-and-forth between the candidates, showing that the election will be razor-thin once the votes have been added up. Mabinty Quarshie, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 15 Oct. 2024 Nor did Global Intelligence explain exactly how the system determined that Mendoza’s cyber profile had pinged the wireless devices near 1228 Fifth Avenue. Todd Feathers, WIRED, 15 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ping 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ping.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of ping was in 1855

Dictionary Entries Near ping

Cite this Entry

“Ping.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ping. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

ping

noun
ˈpiŋ
1
: a sharp sound like that of a bullet striking
2
ping verb

Geographical Definition

Ping

geographical name

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

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