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whiz-bang

or whiz·bang, whizz-bang

[noun hwiz-bang, wiz-; adjective hwiz-bang, wiz-]
See more synonyms for whiz-bang on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Military. a small, high-speed shell whose sound as it flies through the air arrives almost at the same instant as its explosion.
  2. a firecracker with a similar effect.
  3. Informal. whiz1(def 5).
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adjective
  1. Informal. first-rate; topnotch: a whiz-bang navigator.
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Origin of whiz-bang

First recorded in 1910–15; orig. imitative
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

connoisseur, guru, doctor, authority, genius, scientist, professional, artist, fly, top, fine, champion, capital, winner, ace, pro, wizard, sage, virtuoso, maven

Examples from the Web for whiz-bang

Historical Examples

  • Just as the order reached us along came a whiz-bang and burst.

    The Glory of The Coming

    Irvin S. Cobb

  • Suddenly—“whiz-bang, whiz-bang” right at the door of the dugout.

    With the Ulster Division in France

    Arthur Purefoy Irwin Samuels

  • "Yes, up went my little 'and like a whiz-bang," announced Bindle.

    Adventures of Bindle

    Herbert George Jenkins

  • It would have taken a "whiz-bang" to catch up to me that day.

  • The "whiz-bang" starts with a rough whirr like a flushing cock partridge, and goes off on contact with a tremendous bang.