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pong

pong

15 7.3
A short, sharp sound when a ball or small thing hits a hard surface
  • noun
  • /pɔŋ/
translation icon : sonido seco
  • She winced at the pong made when the book fell from the shelf.
  • pong ball

Examples

  • There were three ping-pong tables in a large recreation room near the cafeteria, and after my third cup of coffee, I challenged Rosemary to a game of ping-pong.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • The pong of the ball hitting the floor echoed in the empty room.

  • When Atari invented Pong, they realized that they were onto a good thing.

    Blog text (24)
  • Milton woke feeling the pong, pong of a basketball bouncing outside.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The steps drew nearer, their ping-pong echo making them appear to come from all sides.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Each time the rubber ball hit the table, a sharp pong rang out.

Synonyms

ping
vspong
18 6.4

A short, sharp high sound like metal being struck

is sharp and quick but not necessarily very high pitched
boink
vspong
  • Informal
4 9.0

A short, funny sound when something hits or bounces

is sharper and less playful while describing a clean hard impact
boing
vspong
  • Informal
3 8.2

A short sound like the noise of something bouncing

is sharper and more like a single impact than springy rebound
doink
vspong
2 9.9

A short, clear sound that happens when something hits a hard surface

is sharper and less focused on the resonant quality of impact
plink
vspong
1 8.6

A short high metal sound from a small hit

is a short sharp noise without the distinct metallic timbre
plunk
vspong
1 7.8

A short hollow sound made by pulling a string or hitting an object

is sharper and not the hollow twang of plucked instruments
thwonk
vspong
9.9

A soft, low sound that something makes when it hits a surface

is sharper and firmer rather than soft and resonant

Antonyms

660 2.0

A period with no sound or speech

45 1.0

A calm time with little or no sound

Compounds

23 1.1

A game on a table with a net where players hit a small ball with paddles

15 1.6

A game like tennis played on a table using small paddles and a light ball

A small, light, hollow plastic ball used in table tennis

A table for playing table tennis with a net in the middle

aerial ping pong
  • Informal
9.7

A casual game where players hit balloons or flying discs in the air

A simple video game where two players use paddles to hit a ball across the screen

How Loud

bang
237 1.3
thud
81 2.2
pong
15 7.3
knock
81 1.3
tap
66 1.0

Surface Forms

pong singular
pongs plural

Etymology

The word pong is a sound-word that copies a short, hollow 'pong' noise, like the sound of the ball in ping-pong. That's why pong can mean a short, sharp sound when something hits or bounces off a surface.