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• ping-pong
  ping-pong

  verb (used with object)

  to move back and forth or transfer rapidly from one locale, job, etc., to another; switch.
• Ping-Pong
  Ping-Pong

  table tennis.

ping-pong

¹ American  

[ping-pong, -pawng] / ˈpɪŋˌpɒŋ, -ˌpɔŋ /

verb (used with object)

1. to move back and forth or transfer rapidly from one locale, job, etc., to another; switch.

   The patient was ping-ponged from one medical specialist to another.

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verb (used without object)

1. to go back and forth; change rapidly or regularly; shift; bounce.

   For ten years the foreign correspondent ping-ponged between London and Paris.

Ping-Pong ² American  

[ping-pong, -pawng] / ˈpɪŋˌpɒŋ, -ˌpɔŋ /

Trademark.

1. table tennis.

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Ping-Pong British  

/ ˈpɪŋˌpɒŋ /

noun

1. Also called: ping pong.  another name for table tennis

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Etymology

Origin of ping-pong

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

A secret visit by national security adviser Henry Kissinger the year before laid the groundwork for the presidential trip, alongside reciprocal visits of table tennis teams termed "ping-pong diplomacy".

From Barron's • May 15, 2026

Ace integrates nine synchronized cameras and three vision systems to track the spinning plastic ping-pong ball.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill is currently stuck in parliamentary "ping-pong", where legislation moves between the Commons and Lords until agreement is reached on its final wording.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

His ball ricocheted off the putting surface as if he’d hit a ping-pong table before rolling into the water.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Nico found himself in the rec room of the Big House, all the senior camp leaders gathered around the ping-pong table.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan