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)
1
: to make a ping
2
: to ricochet with a ping
gravel pinging off … the car— Margaret Atwood
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
That will turn off connections to other devices and stop apps from constantly pinging for updates. — David Nield, WIRED, "How To Get the Most Out of Your Smartphone Battery," 25 Aug. 2019 Seconds later, the ball was pinging around in front of the U.S. goal following a Dutch corner before Sauerbrunn again headed the ball away. — Kevin Baxter, latimes.com, "Women’s World Cup final: U.S. leads, 2-0, after Rose Lavelle’s goal," 7 July 2019 An automated system sent out a preliminary alert 21 seconds later, vibrating smartphones and pinging laptops around the world. — Charlie Wood, Scientific American, "Astronomers Spy a Black Hole Devouring a Neutron Star," 19 Aug. 2019 Washington follows a Facebook page that pings her every time there’s word of another shooting. — Mary Schmich, chicagotribune.com, "Column: Three years after Tavon Tanner was shot, he and his twin sister find quiet among peaceful streets," 9 Aug. 2019 Kreutzer, who wrote the screenplay, proves especially adept, in conjunction with editor Ulrike Kofler, at the natural suspense of pinging between Lola’s professional and personal lives, and where the vulnerabilities in one bleed into the other. — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, "Review: ‘The Ground Beneath My Feet’ tracks a woman’s tightly wound world falling apart," 31 July 2019 Finally, on the appointed morning, Jo’s phone pinged, waking her before sunrise. — Greg Bishop, SI.com, "Immigrant Song," 30 July 2019 The night before a concert by South Korean boy band BTS, Shanicka Anderson was sitting on the bed of her New Jersey hotel room when her phone pinged. — Washington Post, "How AirDrop requests have become Gen Z’s version of passing notes," 10 July 2019 Harry Kane produced one of these moments, pinging in a 45-yard winner deep into stoppage time for Spurs against Juventus in Singapore this weekend. — SI.com, "The 5 Greatest Pre-Season Goals of the Modern Era," 22 July 2019These 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.
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