bleeping
bleeping Lexical Profile
bleeping Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Used as a mild euphemistic intensifier to express annoyance, frustration, or emphasis in place of a taboo expletive.
"I cannot get this bleeping printer to connect to the wireless network."
Emitting a short, high-pitched electronic sound or series of sounds.
"The nurse hurried down the corridor toward the bleeping heart monitor."
• verb
To make a short, high-pitched electronic sound.
"The microwave was bleeping to signal that the soup was ready."
To censor or mask a spoken word in a broadcast by substituting a high-pitched electronic tone.
"The audio editors spent the afternoon bleeping the inappropriate language from the live interview."
• adverb
To an annoying or extreme degree (used as a euphemistic intensifier before an adjective or adverb).
"It is bleeping freezing outside without a winter coat."
• noun
The continuous or repeated emission of short, high-pitched electronic sounds.
"The constant bleeping of the supermarket checkout scanners echoed through the store."
Word Nuance & Usage
When used as an adjective or adverb to express annoyance, 'bleeping' is restricted to attributive positions before a noun or another modifier and cannot be used predicatively.
• Rhymes for bleeping
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the imitative noun and verb 'bleep', the euphemistic sense emerged in the mid-20th century from the practice of using an electronic tone to censor profanity in television and radio broadcasts.