wham

American  

[hwam, wam] / ʰwæm, wæm /

noun

1. a loud sound produced by an explosion or sharp impact.

   the wham of a pile driver.

2. a forcible impact.

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interjection

1. (used as an exclamation suggestive of a loud slam, blow, or the like.)

verb (used with or without object)

whammed, whamming

1. to hit or make a forcible impact, especially one producing a loud sound.

   The boat whammed into the dock.

   He whammed the door shut.

adverb

1. Also abruptly; with startling suddenness.

   The car ran wham up against the building.

wham British  

/ wæm /

noun

1. a forceful blow or impact or the sound produced by such a blow or impact

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interjection

1. an exclamation imitative of this sound

verb

1. to strike or cause to strike with great force

Etymology

Origin of wham

First recorded in 1730–40; imitative

Example Sentences

“Stacked up, big storm after big storm after big storm — wham, wham, wham.”

From Seattle Times • Mar. 20, 2023

At first thought, a homemade sprinkle birthday cake seems like an easy task: Just fold a bunch of sprinkles into a vanilla cake and wham bam, you're done.

From Salon • Jan. 26, 2022

“It just comes in, and, wham, it hits the ground,” Vago says.

From Scientific American • Feb. 6, 2020

The opening is a wham: A man appears from the fog and holds the hero aloft by his foot, thus turning his life upside down, as well.

From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2019

“That there’s going to be no transition at all? No interim period for—I don’t know—a provisional government-in-training? Just wham, the Belgians are gone and the Congolese have to run everything on their own?”

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver