banger

English

Etymology

From bang +‎ -er. The sausages were so called because of their excess water content and impervious skin, leading to the risk of explosion if not punctured before cooking.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbæŋ.ə(ɹ)/
Audio (US): (file)

Rhymes: -æŋə(ɹ)
Audio (General Australian): (file)

Noun

banger (plural bangers)

A thing or person which bangs, in any sense.
1. (British) A firework that makes a bang.
2. (sexuality, slang) A person who has sex.
  Coordinate terms: bang, gangbang, gangbanger
  - 2008, Dewan Gibson, The Imperfect Enjoyment, page 177:
    He is also a former international chick banger.
3. (automotive, slang) An old, worn-out car. From a stereotypical one backfiring, making banging noises.
  Synonyms: bucket, beater, hooptie, jalopy, wreck, crock, shitbox, rustbucket; see also Thesaurus:old car
4. (US, automotive, slang) A car or an engine; referring to the cylinders of an engine in a car. From the explosive bangs on every cylinder firing.
  He drives a little four-banger to work.
6. (music, slang) A powerfully energetic and/or very good song, especially in hip-hop and dance music.
  - 2002, Mike Skinner (lyrics and music), “Let's Push Things Forward”, in Original Pirate Material, performed by The Streets:
    My frequencies are transient and resonate your eardrums / I make bangers, not anthems
  - 2008, Billboard, volume 120, number 32, page 44:
    Morris' melding of influences ranging from mid-'80s computer technology to Baltimore club bangers to the U.K. rave scene has cemented his reputation as one of London's most formidable DJs.
  - 2012, Mike Skinner, The Story of The Streets, page 31:
    'Ice Ice Baby' was an absolute banger, though, wasn't it? And knowing the history of that song, it had proper rap credentials.
7. (slang, by extension) Any particularly good or pleasing thing.
  1. (Internet slang, also attributive) A good or popular post.
    can’t stop getting bangers
8. (curling) One of the rocks that end up crashing against another, making banging sounds, after a throw.
9. (curling) One of the rocks that results in a score at the finish of an end.
(British, sexuality, slang) A woman's breast.
- 2010, Emily Herbert, Gok Wan: The Biography:
  […] yet not only was Gok able to tell her that her 'bangers' were amazing: he buried his head in her cleavage. No other man on television would have been able to get away with that.
(British, sexuality, slang) A man's penis.
(British, New Zealand, Australia, food, slang) A sausage.
Synonym: (Australia) snag

Coordinate term: bangers and mash
(US, crime, slang) Clipping of gangbanger; a member of a gang.
- 2011, Jeff Change, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, page 420:
  Just as the gang peace movement desired to mainstream hardcore bangers into civic society, The Chronic wanted to drive hardcore rap into the popstream.
(military, slang) A Bangalore torpedo.