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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ping-pong Ping-Pong

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

“Most engineers want to do the 1:00 to 3:45 with a ping-pong break and an hour lunch. That’s the way the Valley worked,” McCardel said.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 4, 2026

Spalding brought his grandfather’s ping-pong table to the volleyball room at school for more fun.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026

The bill is currently at the stage of its parliamentary journey known as "ping-pong", where legislation moves between the Commons and Lords until agreement is reached on its final wording.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

“Wasn’t I supposed to beat him? Isn’t that the point? Now that he’s dead, I guess it doesn’t matter any more whether I’m a better ping-pong player or not, does it?”

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

He purchased a Ping-Pong table as his first piece of furniture.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2024

His brother-in-law, Trent Golz, tosses an orange Ping-Pong ball and Mr. Shields releases the hanger, which slides toward the ground while the ball ricochets among five meticulously placed tiles.

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2024

“In a larger space, you can add in a Ping-Pong table, pool table, a bowling alley — really anything you can imagine and your space allows for.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 10, 2023

The favorite spot among players at the Ryder Cup is their team room, with its food and drinks, plenty of laughter, motivational moments and for the Americans, epic tales of Ping-Pong.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023

But it wasn’t until Chapter Eleven descended into the basement to play Ping-Pong with Milton that I understood what was behind all this.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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