bang out

present singular third person bangs out · participle present banging out · participle past banged out · past banged out

1. idiomatictransitiveTo do (something) quickly, in a slipshod, or unprofessional manner, especially performing or composing music or a piece of writing.

   I've got this paper due tomorrow, but I think I can bang it out in one night.

   4 more examples

   The band were banging out a vaguely recognisable version of the Star Spangled Banner.

   They bang out bubblegum punk that couldn't be more reductive if Joey Ramone himself were hovering over their shoulders with his Gabba Gabba Hey! sign.

   2001 May 25, Caroline Sullivan, “Bubblegum punk from the Donnas”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2022

   Punters put up with all this for the thrill of seeing someone perform live – not for a ghoulish sanitised projection, soullessly banging out the hits.

   2019 February 24, Barbara Ellen, “Amy Winehouse could belt out a tune – her naff hologram can’t”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2019

   California’s license plates are made at Folsom State Prison — where inmates bang out approximately 45,000 plates per day.

   2026 September 11, Christopher Edwards, “California DMV runs out of license plate combos for first time in 46 years, drops new plate format”, in New York Post, archived from the original on 17 Sep 2026

2. intransitiveslangaeronauticsTo eject.

   The pilot promptly banged out and the aircraft flew almost as far as the airfield, eventually crashing into a farmer's field.

   2010, Tony Doyle, Flying at the Edge, →ISBN, page 253

3. UKtransitivemediaTo celebrate (a fellow printing or newspaper industry worker) to mark their completion of an apprenticeship or their retirement by (formerly) hitting metal furniture in the printing room or (more recently) hitting one's desk in the newsroom.

   1 more example

   As Hill left, his colleagues on the foreign desk started to bang him out – the traditional printers' farewell that involves thumping the desk as loudly as possible. According to reports the whole of the Telegraph's vast multimedia newsroom, said to be the largest in Europe, was shaking as staff banged out yet another colleague.

   2008 June 26, “Hill and Dryden off with a bang”, in The Guardian

4. transitiveTo beat up (someone).

plural bang outs

1. slangSomeone who works or studies seemingly way too much.

   Jamie finished the paper and did all the homework. He's such a bang out.

1. UKnot comparableslangCompletely unacceptable.