whiz-bang

[ noun hwiz-bang, wiz-; adjective hwiz-bang, wiz- ]

/ noun ˈʰwɪzˌbæŋ, ˈwɪz-; adjective ˈʰwɪzˈbæŋ, ˈwɪz- /

Military. a small, high-speed shell whose sound as it flies through the air arrives almost at the same instant as its explosion.

a firecracker with a similar effect.

Informal. whiz¹(def 5).

Informal. first-rate; topnotch: a whiz-bang navigator.

Nearby words

First recorded in 1910–15; orig. imitative

Well, over the top we went and we got to the place he had pointed out; we had barely lain down in a shell hole when whiz-bang!
Into the Jaws of Death|Jack O'Brien
Suddenly—“whiz-bang, whiz-bang” right at the door of the dugout.
With the Ulster Division in France|Arthur Purefoy Irwin Samuels
It would have taken a "whiz-bang" to catch up to me that day.
Into the Jaws of Death|Jack O'Brien
It covered us with dirt, and we had hardly gotten the dust out of our eyes when whiz-bang!
Into the Jaws of Death|Jack O'Brien

"Yes, up went my little 'and like a whiz-bang," announced Bindle.
Adventures of Bindle|Herbert George Jenkins