pong

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A stench, a bad smell.

   • Carrot ran past him to get to the barrel first, and peered down at the cowering Catweazle. “No rats, Dad,” he said. “What's that terrible pong, then?” said Mr Bennett, sniffing.
   • 1992, Bryce Courtenay, Tandia, Volume 1, 2011, Read How You Want, page 109, She sniffed, squiffing up her nose. ‘What a pong! Do they all smell like this?’
   • I can remember calling round once and when she answered the door I was greeted by an unmistakable, noxious pong. “I can smell gas!” I said. “Oh, have I left the ring on?” she asked vaguely.
2. 2

   To stink, to smell bad.

   • “Give them a drink of this and thy father shall see them as they are. They shall speak from their black hearts.” “Pongs a bit,” sniffed Carrot. “Sure it's not poisonous?”
   • 2009, Susan Brocker, Saving Sam, HarperCollins, New Zealand, unnumbered page, The place ponged, like the smell of stale cat pee.
3. 3

   To deliver a line of a play in an arch, suggestive or unnatural way, so as to draw undue…

   To deliver a line of a play in an arch, suggestive or unnatural way, so as to draw undue attention to it.

4. ›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To invent a line of dialogue when one has forgotten the actual line.

      • […] and the “good old crusted” actor, forgetting the lines of the author, used without compunction to cover his discomfiture by inventing a text of his own–an achievement known as "ponging."
   2. 5

      A packet sent in reply to a ping, thereby indicating the presence of a host.

   3. 6

      Alternative form of pung.

   4. 7

      An early video game from Atari, resembling ping-pong, in which two players control…

      An early video game from Atari, resembling ping-pong, in which two players control paddles and attempt to intercept a ball.

      • A good lunar lander or Pong-type game was all you needed to strike it rich!
      • If the US invades Iraq, we'll see action all right, much more than we witnessed with the primitive Pong-ish effects delivered during Gulf War 1.0,
      • The paddle controllers are necessary for playing Pong-style contests, and since two paddles share one controller input you can easily play doubles Pong with an extra set of paddles.

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