ping

[ping]

verb (used without object)

1. to produce a sharp sound like that of a bullet striking a sheet of metal.

verb (used with object)

1. Computers.,  to send an echo-request packet to (an IP address) and use the echo reply to determine whether another computer on the network is operational and the speed at which the data is being transferred.

2. to make contact with (someone) by sending a brief electronic message, as a text message.

   The design team should ping marketing to set up a meeting next week.

   Ping me when you arrive, and I’ll meet you at the door.

noun

1. a pinging sound.

2. an infrasonic or ultrasonic sound wave created by sonar in echolocation.

3. an acoustic signal transmitted to indicate a location.

   Rescue crews were able to follow the ping and locate the flight recorder.

4. Computers.,  an echo-request and echo-reply protocol that tests a connection online or in a network by sending a packet to a host IP address and measuring the round-trip speed of data transfer.

5. one of the possible sounds made by an electronic or mobile device to signal the receipt of data, as a phone or text message.

ping

/ pɪŋ /

noun

1. a short high-pitched resonant sound, as of a bullet striking metal or a sonar echo

2. computing a system for testing whether internet systems are responding and how long in milliseconds it takes them to respond

verb

1. (intr) to make such a noise

2. (tr) computing to send a test message to (a computer or server) in order to check whether it is responding or how long it takes it to respond

Other Word Forms

• pinging adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ping¹

First recorded in 1850–55; imitative

Word History and Origins

Origin of ping¹

C19: of imitative origin

Example Sentences

But I think the story stays for a deeper reason, something that pings on the national conscience—something barely articulable that’s just there, like a cloud we all operate in.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“If you are a freshman at Penn or you’re a freshman at Yale or a freshman at Harvard, as soon as you move into your dorm room, you might get pinged by McKinsey,” Binder said.

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That was compounded by “echoing alerts,” when the message pinged repeatedly and seemingly at random.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

ORLANDO—I was half asleep when my phone pinged with an alert from Delta Air Lines late Sunday.

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Reactors like the ones at Fukushima Daiichi increase the likelihood that those pinging neutrons will hit another uranium 235 nucleus by slowing them down.

Read more on Literature