pong

American  

[pong, pawng] / pɒŋ, pɔŋ /

noun

1. an unpleasant smell; stink.

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verb (used without object)

1. to have a disagreeable smell; stink.

pong British  

/ pɒŋ /

noun

1. a disagreeable or offensive smell; stink

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verb

1. (intr) to give off an unpleasant smell; stink

Other Word Forms

• pongy adjective

Etymology

Origin of pong

First recorded in 1915–20; of obscure origin

Example Sentences

“He seems to have been called by every honorary title imaginable,” noted one biographer—“the country’s leading novelist, philosopher, educator, designer, agricultural experimenter, architect, industrial management specialist, general and ping pong trainer.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Chalamet’s marketing deck is full of outrageous, sky-high ideas, like an orange blimp that drops ping pong balls as it sails over Los Angeles.

From Salon • Dec. 25, 2025

Rachel’s egg becomes the moon; the moon becomes a ping pong ball.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025

An American Airlines pilot, Ron Weiland was 54 years old and in good physical shape when he mysteriously lost his ability to play ping pong.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Pa was born in 1931 in Tro Nuon, a small, rural village in the Kam- pong Cham province.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung