bang

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

bang

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: băng; IPA^(key): /bæŋ(ɡ)/
• (General American) enPR: bāng; IPA^(key): /beɪŋ(ɡ)/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋ, -eɪŋ
• Homophone: bhang

Etymology 1

From Middle English *bangen, from Old English *bangian or borrowed from Old Norse banga (“to pound, hammer”); both from Proto-Germanic *bangōną (“to beat, pound”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰen- (“to beat, hit, injure”). Cognate with Scots bang, bung (“to strike, bang, hurl, thrash, offend”), Icelandic banga (“to pound, hammer”), Old Swedish bånga ("to hammer"; whence modern Swedish banka (“to knock, pound, bang”)), Danish banke (“to beat”), bengel (“club”), Low German bangen, bangeln (“to strike, beat”), West Frisian bingel, bongel, Dutch bengel (“bell; rascal”), German Bengel (“club”), bungen (“to throb, pulsate”).

In the sense of a fringe of hair, from bang off.

In the sense of abrupt left turn, from Boston left and associated risk of a crash.

Alternative forms

• bangue (obsolete)

Noun

bang (plural bangs)

1. A sudden percussive noise.

   When he struck it with a hammer, there was a loud bang.

   • 1992, Bob Magor, Blood on the Board, page 39:

     A fiendish yell then followed / Ev'ry salvo's 'bang' and 'bloop'.

2. A strike upon an object causing such a noise.
3. An explosion.
4. (US, archaic) Synonym of bangs: hair hanging over the forehead, especially a hairstyle with such hair cut straight across.

   Tiffany has long hair and bangs.

   • 1880, William Dean Howells, The Undiscovered Country:

     his hair cut in front like a young lady's bang

   • 1902, Barbara Baynton, Squeaker's Mate; reprinted in Carmel Bird, editor, The Penguin Century of Australian Stories, 2000, →ISBN:

     She was not much to look at. Her red hair hung in an uncurled bang over her forehead

5. (chiefly US) The symbol !, known as an exclamation point.

   An e-mail address with an ! is called a bang path.

   • 1980, C.W. Wilkinson, Peter H. Clarke, Dorothy C.M. Wilkinson, Communicating through Letters and Reports, 7th edition, page 651:

     Incidentally, a useful abbreviation for "Exclamation point" is "Bang."

6. (mathematics) A factorial, in mathematics, because the factorial of n is often written as n!
7. (vulgar, slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
8. An offbeat figure typical of reggae songs and played on guitar and piano.
9. (slang, mining) An explosive product.

   Load the bang into the hole.

10. (slang) An injection, a shot (of a narcotic drug).
    • 1951 December 20, William S. Burroughs, “To Allen Ginsberg”, in Oliver Harris, editor, The Letters of William S. Burroughs, 1945–1959, New York: Penguin, published 1993, →ISBN, page 98:

      Of course, I take a bang or some mud in coffee now and then, and I pick up on gage right smart.

    • 1952 January 19, William S. Burroughs, “To Allen Ginsberg”, in Oliver Harris, editor, The Letters of William S. Burroughs, 1945–1959, New York: Penguin, published 1993, →ISBN, page 101:

      As for myself, I take a bang now and then—I know plenty of croakers—but I really couldn't keep up a habit without a lot of running around and bother.

11. (slang, US, Boston area) An abrupt left turn.
12. (Ireland, colloquial, slang) strong smell (of)

    There was a bang of onions off his breath.

13. (slang) A thrill.
    • 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 38:

      I hate the movies like poison, but I get a bang imitating them.

    • 1993, Douglas Woolf, Sandra Braman, Hypocritic Days & Other Tales, page 40:

      "We all know you give great parties, Mr. Lippincott."
      "It gives me a bang, even a bigger bang than this," Mr. Lippincott said, indicating his drink and then finishing it.

    • 2000, James Hadley Chase, Make the Corpse Walk, page 31:

      Yes, he got a bang out of cheating Rollo.

Synonyms

• strike, blow
• explosion
• (the symbol !): exclamation point, exclamation mark, pling

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "abrupt left turn"): hang

Translations

Verb

bang (third-person singular simple present bangs, present participle banging, simple past and past participle banged)

1. (intransitive) To make sudden loud noises, and often repeatedly, especially by exploding or hitting something.

   The fireworks banged away all through the night.

   Stop banging on the door. I heard you the first time!

   My head was banging after drinking all night at the concert.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To hit hard.

   He banged the door shut.

   David and Mary banged into each other.

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     The desperate tempest hath so banged the Turks.

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

     Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

3. (slang, transitive, intransitive, vulgar) To engage in sexual intercourse.

   We can hear the couple banging upstairs.

   Synonyms: nail, do it, have sex; see also Thesaurus:copulate, Thesaurus:copulate with

   • 1996, Cameron Crowe, Jerry Maguire, spoken by Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr), Culver City, Calif.: TriStar Pictures; distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Video, published 1997, →ISBN:

     It's also my job to take care of the skanks on the road that you bang.

   • 1972, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather:

     Moe Greene: He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time!

4. (with "in") To hammer or to hit anything hard.

   Hold the picture while I bang in this nail.

5. (transitive) To cut squarely across, as the tail of a horse, or a person's forelock; to cut (the hair).
   • c. 1883, Frank Hamilton Cushing, Becomin a Zuni:

     His hair banged even with his eyebrows.

6. (transitive, slang, drugs) To inject intravenously.

   Do you smoke meth? No, I bang it.

7. (finance, transitive, dated) To depress the prices in (a market).
   • 1821, Bank of England, The Bank - The Stock Exchange - The Bankers ..., page 64:

     This accompt has been made to appear a bull accompt, i.e. that the bulls cannot take their stock. The fact is the reverse; it is a bear accompt, but the bears, unable to deliver their stock, have conjointly banged the market, and pocketed the tickets, to defeat the rise and loss that would have ensued to them by their buying on a rising price on the accompt day […]

   • 1902, Truth, volume 50, page 1138:

     […] the London "Bears" have promptly banged the market again […]

8. (slang, transitive, obsolete) To excel or surpass.
9. (intransitive, stative, slang) To be excellent; to be banging

   This song bangs!

   Synonyms: eat, rule, rock, slap

10. (Nigeria, slang) To fail, especially an exam; to flunk.
11. (New England, slang, intransitive) To make a turn in a vehicle; to hang a right, left, or uey.

    Bang a right at the next stoplight.

12. (US, slang) Shortened form of gangbang, to participate in street gang criminal activity.

    You know I still bang.

Conjugation

Translations

Adverb

bang (comparative more bang, superlative most bang)

1. Right, directly.

   The passenger door was bang against the garage wall.

   • 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport‎:

     After yet another missed penalty by Kvirikashvili from bang in front of the posts, England scored again, centre Tuilagi flying into the line and touching down under the bar.

2. Precisely.

   He arrived bang on time.

3. With a sudden impact.

   Distracted, he ran bang into the opening door.

Interjection

bang

1. A sudden percussive sound, such as made by the firing of a gun, slamming of a door, etc.

   He pointed his finger at her like a gun and said, "Bang!"

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     Bang! Away he goes with a mighty bound. Leo has missed him. Bang! right under him again. Now for a shot. I must have one, though he is going like an arrow, and a hundred yards away and more.

   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 84:

     "Just like parade it had been a minute before then stumble, bang, swish! Wiped out!" he said.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, , →OCLC, part I, page 215:

     "Serve him right. Transgression - punishment - bang! Pitiless, pitiless."

   • 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 17:

     "We help to kill the bloody bandits. Bang, bang, bang."

Translations

Derived terms

• (verb): banger, bit banging, gangbang, bang about, bang around, bang away, bang down the door, bang on the door, bang one's head against a brick wall, bang out, bang some heads together, bang the door down, gang-bang, head bang, bang like a shithouse door, bang like a dunny door, bang like a dunny door in a gale, bang a uey, bang for one's buck
• (noun): bang bang chicken, bang path, bang for the buck, bang maid, bang snap, bang stick, bang straw / bang-straw, bang tail / bang-tail, bang zone, bang-up cove, big bang / Big Bang, flash-bang, gang bang, go out with a bang, interrobang, sonic bang, with a bang
• (adverb): bang on, bang out of order, bang to rights, bang up / bang-up
• (interjection): bang-bang, slap bang / slap-bang, smack bang, the whole bang shoot, whiz-bang / whizz-bang / whizbang

Etymology 2

Noun

bang (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of bhang (“cannabis”)

See also

• PC bang

Anagrams

• BGAN

Acehnese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /baŋ/

Noun

bang

1. adhan (islamic call to prayer)

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch bang (“afraid”), from Middle Dutch banghe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baŋ/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

bang (attributive bange, comparative banger, superlative bangste)

1. afraid

Bislama

Etymology 1

From English bank.

Noun

bang

1. A bank
   • 2008, Miriam Meyerhoff, Social lives in language--sociolinguistics and multilingual speech‎, →ISBN, page 344:

     Bang i wantem mi faen from mi ovaspen.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Etymology 2

From English bang.

Noun

bang

1. accident

See also

• aksidong

Cebuano

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Noun

bang

1. the sound of an explosion or a gun

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:bang.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑŋ/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bang
• Rhymes: -ɑŋ

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch banghe, from be- + anghe. The latter word is an adverbial form of enge (“narrow, confined”), compare angst (“fear”). See also Middle Low German bange, Middle High German bange, German bang, West Frisian bang.

Adjective

bang (comparative banger, superlative bangst)

1. scared, frightened

   Wees maar niet bang.

   Please don't be afraid.

   Ik ben bang voor het donker!

   I am scared of the dark!

2. fearful
3. anxious

Usage notes

• The adjective is accompanied with zijn (to be); for example: Ik ben bang "I am afraid". Usage with hebben (to have) also occurs - for example: Ik heb bang - but is generally proscribed as a contamination with ik heb angst.
• In Southern Dutch, the phrase schrik hebben is used as well besides bang zijn.

Inflection

Synonyms

• bevreesd, angstig, schrikachtig, vruchtig, verschrikt

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: bang
• Berbice Creole Dutch: banggi
• Jersey Dutch: bāng
• Negerhollands: bang, baṅ

See also

• schrikken

Etymology 2

Of onomatopoeic origin, possibly from English bang.

Noun

bang m (plural bangen, diminutive bangetje n)

1. A sharp, percussive sound, like the sound of an explosion or gun; bang

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑ̃ɡ/

• Audio

  (file)

Interjection

bang

1. bang

Noun

bang m (plural bangs)

1. sonic boom
2. bong (marijuana pipe)

Further reading

• “bang”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

German

Alternative forms

• bange (both are roughly equally common)

Etymology

Originally an adverb, cf. mir ist bange. From Middle High German bange, an enlargement (with the prefix be-) of ange, Old High German ango (“narrowly, anxiously”), an adverb of engi (“narrow”), from Proto-Germanic *anguz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baŋ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aŋ

Adjective

bang (strong nominative masculine singular banger, comparative banger or bänger, superlative am bangsten or am bängsten)

1. scared, frightened, afraid, fearful

   Synonym: ängstlich

   • 1851, Heinrich Heine, “Lazarus”, in Romanzero‎, Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe:

     Und ist man tot, so muß man lang / Im Grabe liegen; ich bin bang, / Ja, ich bin bang, das Auferstehen / Wird nicht so schnell von Statten gehen.

     And when one is dead, one must lie long in the grave; I'm afraid / Yes, I'm afraid, the resurrection / Won't happen so quickly.

   • 2001, Winfried Georg Sebald, Austerlitz, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, →ISBN, page 376:

     […] wenn sie, was mich stets in eine bange Stimmung versetzte, nicht in Paris war, machte ich mich regelmäßig auf, die Randbezirke der Stadt zu erkunden […]

     when she, which always placed me into a state of dread, wasn’t in Paris, I regularly set off to reconnoitre the outlying districts of the city

Declension

Derived terms

• angst und bang

Further reading

• “bang” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “bang” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse .

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pauŋk/
• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Rhymes: -auŋk
• Rhymes: -aŋː

Noun

bang n (genitive singular bangs, no plural)

1. pounding, hammering, banging

Declension

Related terms

• banga

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

bang

Wikipedia ^id

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baŋ/
• Hyphenation: bang
• Homophone: bank

Etymology 1

Clipping of abang (“brother”).

Noun

bang

1. Title or term of address for brother

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic

Noun

bang

1. A sudden percussive noise.

Etymology 3

From Malay bang, from Persian بانگ (bâng, “voice, sound, noise, cry”), from Middle Persian 𐭥𐭠𐭭𐭢 (ʿʾng /⁠vāng⁠/).

Noun

bang (first-person possessive bangku, second-person possessive bangmu, third-person possessive bangnya)

1. (obsolete) adhan

   Synonym: azan

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• “bang” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bang m (genitive singular banga, nominative plural banganna)

1. (swimming) stroke, single effort

   Synonyms: béim, buille, oscar

2. effort, (vigorous) movement

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Irish bang (“ban, interdict”).

Noun

bang f (genitive singular bainge, nominative plural banga)

1. ban, interdict, taboo
2. restraint

Declension

Etymology 3

Noun

bang m (genitive singular baing, nominative plural baing)

1. Alternative form of banc (“bank”)

Declension

Mutation

Further reading

• Entries containing “bang” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bang”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 bang”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• “stroke”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2024

Javanese

Romanization

bang

1. Romanization of ꦧꦁ

Lashi

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hwaŋ (“to shine”). Cognates include S'gaw Karen ဘီ (baw, “yellow”) and Burmese ဝင်း (wang:, “bright”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baŋ/

Adjective

bang

1. bright

References

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎, Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baŋ/
• Rhymes: -baŋ, -aŋ

Etymology 1

From Persian بانگ (“voice, sound, noise, cry”).

Noun

bang (Jawi spelling بڠ, plural bang-bang, informal 1st possessive bangku, 2nd possessive bangmu, 3rd possessive bangnya)

1. adhan

   Synonym: azan

Etymology 2

Clipping of abang (“brother”).

Noun

bang (Jawi spelling بڠ, plural bang-bang, informal 1st possessive bangku, 2nd possessive bangmu, 3rd possessive bangnya)

1. (colloquial) brother (older male sibling)

   Synonyms: abang (bung), kakak, engko, nana, uda

Further reading

• “bang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Mandarin

Romanization

bang

1. Nonstandard spelling of bāng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of bǎng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bàng.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Maranao

Noun

bang

1. (Islam) adhan, call to prayer

References

• A Maranao Dictionary, by Howard P. McKaughan and Batua A. Macaraya

Northern Kurdish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑːŋɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɑːŋɡ

Noun

bang ?

1. a shout.

Old Norse

Etymology

Onomatopoeic or unknown origin.

Noun

bang n (genitive bangs, plural bǫng)

1. pounding, hammering, banging

Related terms

• banga

References

• “bang”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German bang, Dutch bang.

Adjective

bang

1. afraid, scared, fearful
2. timid
3. uneasy

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bang

1. bang

Swedish

Etymology

From Middle Low German bange, formed from be- + enge (from Old Saxon engi, angi (“narrow”)). Related to English angst and anger.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

bang

1. scared, anxious

Noun

bang c

1. A sudden percussive noise

Declension

Tedim Chin

Pronoun

bang

1. what

References

• Zomi Ordbog based on the work of D.L. Haokip

Tho

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *t-ɓaːŋ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baːŋ¹/

Noun

bang

1. (Cuối Chăm) muntjac

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key):
• (Huế) IPA^(key):
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key):

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 邦.

Noun

(classifier cái) bang

1. (Vietnam) state (a political division of a federation)

   Thành phố Oklahoma là thủ phủ bang Oklahoma.

   Oklahoma City is the capital of the state of Oklahoma.

   bang Kê-ra-la trong nước Cộng hòa Ấn Độ

   the State of Kerala in the Republic of India

   Thụy Sĩ có 26 bang.

   Switzerland has 26 cantons.

Synonyms

• (state): tiểu bang (chiefly overseas Vietnamese)

Derived terms

Related terms

• liên bang
• tỉnh bang

Etymology 2

Verb

bang

1. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) to crash into; to collide with; to hit

   Synonyms: bá, tông

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 幫.

Noun

bang

1. (historical) community of overseas Chinese in French Indochina who emigrated from the same province of China

   bang Phúc Kiến

   the Fukien Chinese expatriates' society

2. Short for bang tá (“assistant district chief”).
3. Short for bang biện (“assistant district chief”).

Derived terms

See also

• hội quán

References

• "bang" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

Zou

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baŋ˧/

Noun

bang

1. wall

References

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 41