pong
pong Lexical Profile
pong Game Scores & Validity
• noun
British A strong, unpleasant smell or stench (informal).
"We had to open all the kitchen windows to clear the pong of burnt cabbage."
A hollow, resonant, or ringing sound, often paired with 'ping' to represent alternating acoustic signals or the bounce of a table tennis ball.
"The steady ping and pong of the table tennis ball echoed across the recreation room."
In computing and networking, an acknowledgment message or packet sent in response to a 'ping' to verify that a connection is active.
"The server immediately returned a pong packet to confirm that the network link was responsive."
In the game of mahjong, a set of three identical tiles, or the call made by a player to claim a discarded tile to complete such a set.
"She declared a pong of red dragons to complete her winning mahjong hand."
• verb
British To emit a strong, unpleasant smell (informal).
"Those damp sports shoes really pong after sitting in the locker all week."
To reply to a network 'ping' signal with an acknowledgment message or packet.
"The client node failed to pong back within the timeout period, causing the server to close the connection."
• Rhymes for pong
Word Origin & Etymology
In its British sense of a foul odor, the word entered English in the early 20th century, likely borrowed from the English Romani word 'ponga' (foul smell). In its acoustic and computing senses, it is imitative of a resonant sound and is a reduplicative partner of 'ping'.