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.

---

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.

---

Ping-Pong British  

/ ˈpɪŋˌpɒŋ /

noun

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

---

Etymology

Origin of ping-pong

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

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

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

I loved ping-pong too much to jeopardize it.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

No target was too dangerous for his group to attack, just as no shot was too difficult for Appleby to handle on the ping-pong table.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller