bang

plural bangs · alternative obsolete bangue

1. A sudden percussive noise.

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

   1 more example

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

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

   Synonyms: boom, report

2. A heavy strike upon an object causing such a noise.

   I gave the door a bang and it swung open.

   1 more example

   That bang on his head has sent him funny.

3. informalAn explosion.

   When he pushed the detonator, the bang blew him off his feet.

4. USarchaicSynonym of bangs: hair hanging over the forehead, especially a hairstyle with such hair cut straight across.

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

   1880, William Dean Howells, The Undiscovered Country

   1 more example

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

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

   Synonyms: bangs

5. USThe symbol !, known as an exclamation point.

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

   1 more example

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

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

   Synonyms: exclamation point, exclamation mark, pling

6. mathematicsA factorial, in mathematics, because the factorial of n is written as n!
7. slangvulgarAn act of sexual intercourse.
8. An offbeat figure typical of reggae songs and played on guitar and piano.
9. slangbusinessAn explosive product.

   Load the bang into the hole.

10. slangAn injection, a shot (of a narcotic drug).First known use 20th c.

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

    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

    1 more example

    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.

    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

11. USslangBoston areaAn abrupt left turn.
12. Irelandcolloquialslangstrong smell (of)

    There was a bang of onions off his breath.

13. slangA thrill.

    Yes, he got a bang out of cheating Rollo.

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

    2 more examples

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

    1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 38

    "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.

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

present singular third person bangs · participle present banging · participle past banged · past banged · first person past singular banged · archaic present second person singular bangest · past second person singular banged · archaic past second person singular bangedst · present singular third person bangs · archaic present singular third person bangeth · past singular third person banged · past plural banged · past subjunctive banged · participle present banging · participle past banged · alternative obsolete bangue

1. intransitiveTo make sudden loud noises, often repeatedly, especially by exploding or hitting something.

   The door banged in the wind.

   2 more examples

   The fireworks banged away all through the night.

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

2. transitiveTo hit (something) hard, making a loud noise.

   She banged the table with her fist.

   3 more examples

   The desperate tempest hath so banged the Turks.

   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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

   He banged the drum in sync with the band.

   Hold the picture while I bang in this nail.

3. transitiveTo cause or suffer (one thing) to hit (another).

   He banged the door shut.

   3 more examples

   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.

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

   The blacksmith banged the hammer on the anvil.

   I banged my head on the ceiling.

4. intransitivegenerally with a prepositionTo hit (on, against, etc. something).

   David and Mary banged into each other.

   2 more examples

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

   My knee banged against the rung of the ladder.

5. ambitransitiveslangvulgarTo engage in sexual intercourse.

   We can hear the couple banging upstairs.

   2 more examples

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

   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

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

   1972, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather

   Synonyms: nail, do it, have sex, approach, cohabit, common, company, copulate

6. transitiveTo cut squarely across, as the tail of a horse, or a person's forelock; to cut (the hair).

   His hair banged even with his eyebrows.

   c. 1883, Frank Hamilton Cushing, Becomin a Zuni

7. slangtransitivedrugsTo inject intravenously.

   Do you smoke meth? No, I bang it.

8. datedtransitivebusinessTo depress the prices in (a market).

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

   1902, Truth, volume 50, page 1138

   1 more example

   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 […]

   1821, Bank of England, The Bank - The Stock Exchange - The Bankers ..., page 64

9. obsoleteslangtransitiveTo excel or surpass.
10. intransitiveslangstativeTo be excellent; to be banging

    This song bangs!

    Synonyms: eat, rule, rock, slap, devour, eat, eat and leave no crumbs, excel

11. NigeriaslangTo fail, especially an exam; to flunk.
12. New EnglandintransitiveslangTo make a turn in a vehicle; to hang a right, left, or uey.

    Bang a right at the next stoplight.

13. USslangTo gangbang; to participate in street gang criminal activity.

    You know I still bang.

14. hobbiesTo play a sport aggressively.

alternative obsolete bangue

1. informalnot comparableRight, directly.

   The passenger door was bang against the garage wall.

   1 more example

   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.

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

2. informalnot comparablePrecisely, exactly, completely.

   He arrived bang on time.

   1 more example

   As always, this 19th EBR edition is full of bang-up-to-date useful facts.

   2026 August 19, Vitali Vitaliev, “Europe by Rail”, in RAIL, number 1068, page 68

3. informalnot comparableWith a sudden impact.

   Distracted, he ran bang into the opening door.

4. informalnot comparableUsed as a general intensifier.

   She's bang on it today. (She's on very good form today)

   1 more example

   I'm bang up for it! (I'm very keen and willing to do it)

alternative obsolete bangue

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!”

   4 more examples

   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.

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

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

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

   Serve him right. Transgression—punishment—bang! Pitiless, pitiless.

   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

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

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

1. archaicuncountableArchaic spelling of bhang.