BANG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bang mean? 

• BANG (noun)
  The noun BANG has 5 senses:

1. a vigorous blow

2. a sudden very loud noise

3. a border of hair that is cut short and hangs across the forehead

4. the swift release of a store of affective force

5. a conspicuous success

  Familiarity information: BANG used as a noun is common.

• BANG (verb)
  The verb BANG has 6 senses:

1. strike violently

2. to produce a sharp often metallic explosive or percussive sound

3. close violently

4. move noisily

5. have sexual intercourse with

6. leap, jerk, bang

  Familiarity information: BANG used as a verb is common.

• BANG (adverb)
  The adverb BANG has 1 sense:

1. directly

  Familiarity information: BANG used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BANG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A vigorous blow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bang; bash; belt; knock; smash

Context example:

he got a bang on the head

Hypernyms ("bang" is a kind of...):

blow; bump (an impact (as from a collision))

Derivation:

bang (strike violently)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sudden very loud noise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bam; bang; blast; clap; eruption

Hypernyms ("bang" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bang"):

water hammer (the banging sound of steam in pipes)

Derivation:

bang (move noisily)

bang (to produce a sharp often metallic explosive or percussive sound)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A border of hair that is cut short and hangs across the forehead

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

bang; fringe

Hypernyms ("bang" is a kind of...):

coif; coiffure; hair style; hairdo; hairstyle (the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The swift release of a store of affective force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

bang; boot; charge; flush; kick; rush; thrill

Context example:

he does it for kicks

Hypernyms ("bang" is a kind of...):

excitement; exhilaration (the feeling of lively and cheerful joy)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A conspicuous success

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

bang; hit; smash; smasher; strike

Context example:

the party went with a bang

Hypernyms ("bang" is a kind of...):

success (an attainment that is successful)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bang"):

blockbuster; megahit; smash hit (an unusually successful hit with widespread popularity and huge sales (especially a movie or play or recording or novel))

sleeper (an unexpected hit)

• BANG (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bang    ... he / she / it bangs   
Past simple: banged   
Past participle: banged   
-ing form: banging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Strike violently

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bang; slam

Context example:

slam the ball

Hypernyms (to "bang" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bang (a vigorous blow)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To produce a sharp often metallic explosive or percussive sound

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

One of them banged the sash of the window nearest my bed

Hypernyms (to "bang" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bang (a sudden very loud noise)

banger (firework consisting of a small explosive charge and fuse in a heavy paper casing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Close violently

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bang; slam

Context example:

He slammed the door shut

Hypernyms (to "bang" is one way to...):

close; shut (move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They want to bang the doors

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move noisily

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The old man banged around the house

Hypernyms (to "bang" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

bang (a sudden very loud noise)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Have sexual intercourse with

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bang; be intimate; bed; bonk; do it; eff; fuck; get it on; get laid; have a go at it; have intercourse; have it away; have it off; have sex; hump; jazz; know; lie with; love; make love; make out; roll in the hay; screw; sleep together; sleep with

Context example:

Were you ever intimate with this man?

Hypernyms (to "bang" is one way to...):

copulate; couple; mate; pair (engage in sexual intercourse)

Verb group:

make out; neck (kiss, embrace, or fondle with sexual passion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bang"):

have; take (have sex with; archaic use)

fornicate (have sex without being married)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 6

Meaning:

Leap, jerk, bang

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bang; spang

Context example:

Bullets spanged into the trees

Hypernyms (to "bang" is one way to...):

collide with; hit; impinge on; run into; strike (hit against; come into sudden contact with)

Domain usage:

accent; dialect; idiom (the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s something

• BANG (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Directly

Synonyms:

bang; bolt; slap; slapdash; smack

Context example:

ran slap into her

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

And if it does work, he added, "you'd get a big bang for your buck."

(Vitamin C Might Shorten Tuberculosis Treatment Time, Study Indicates, VOA/Steve Baragona)

Already, an infant galaxy has been found in the field, as it looked 1 billion years after the big bang.

(NASA’s Hubble Looks to the Final Frontier, NASA)

But the dark spot, which was first seen at mid-southern latitudes, has apparently faded away rather than going out with a bang.

(Hubble Sees Neptune's Mysterious Shrinking Storm, NASA)

The background is the most ancient light in the history of the cosmos, dating back to 380,000 years after the big bang.

(First Stars Formed Later Than We Thought, NASA)

I banged it a good while with one of my sculls, and at last forced it to leap out of the boat.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It was different from the dance-hall piano-banging and blatant brass bands he had heard.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The object is considered prototypical of young galaxies that emerged during the epoch shortly after the big bang.

(NASA's Great Observatories Team Up to Find Magnified and Stretched Image of Distant Galaxy, NASA)

The booms were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the whole ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Bang came Harrison’s right upon the mark once more, but Crab broke the blow with his elbow, and jumped laughing away.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I packed my things, banged the hall door behind me, and set off for Esher, with my bag in my hand.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)