Ping
/pɪŋ/
Last Updated: January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Scrabble:7 ptsWWF:10 pts4 letters
Definition of Ping
noun
- A high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound.
"My car used to make an odd ping, but after the last oil change it went away."
- (submarine navigation) A pulse of high-pitched or ultrasonic sound whose echoes provide information about nearby objects and vessels.
"The submarine sent out a ping and got an echo from a battleship."
- A packet which a remote host is expected to echo, thus indicating its presence.
"The network is overloaded from all the pings going out."
- An email or other message sent requesting acknowledgement.
"I sent a ping to the insurance company to see if they received our claim."
- Latency.
verb
- To make a high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound.
"My car was pinging until my last oil change."
- (submarine navigation) To emit a signal and then listen for its echo in order to detect objects.
- To send a packet in order to determine whether a host is present, particularly by use of the ping utility.
"I'm pinging their server."
- (by extension) To send an email or other message to someone in hopes of eliciting a response.
"I'll ping the insurance company again to see if they've received our claim."
- To flick.
"I pinged the crumb off the table with my finger."