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

If this year’s best picture nominees had a theme, it’s: Back off and let me do my work, whether it’s lady-bossing, creature-building, race-car driving, “Hamlet”-writing, ping-pong playing, revolution-stoking, juke-joint opening or logging the timber that built America.

From Los Angeles Times

Marty Mauser wants to be the greatest ping-pong player on Earth.

From Los Angeles Times

Chalamet was just a few weeks ago considered the frontrunner to win this year’s lead actor Oscar for playing a cocky young ping-pong star in “Marty Supreme,” but has since experienced a rapid downward trajectory in rank thanks to his growing reputation for being a cocky young movie star — with extra demerits for dating Kylie Jenner.

From Los Angeles Times

Sunday nights: an apartment overlooking the Pacific, Manchego and hummus, then down to the rec room for ping-pong.

From Los Angeles Times

“We just keep it about ping-pong,” I’d tell José, as if I’d discovered some secret to coexistence.

From Los Angeles Times