ping

n.

1. A sharp, high-pitched sound, as that made by a bullet striking metal.
2. See knock (sense ).

intr.v., pinged, ping·ing, pings.
To make a sharp, high-pitched, metallic sound.

[Imitative.]

ping² (pĭng)
n.
A protocol that sends a message to another computer and waits for acknowledgment, often used to check if another computer on a network is reachable.

[p(acket) in(formation) g(roper).]

(1) See also PNG and ping service.

(2) See blog ping.

(3) (Packet INternet Groper) An Internet utility used to determine whether a particular IP address is reachable online by sending out a packet and waiting for a response. Ping is used to test and debug a network as well as see if a user or server is online.

Are You There?

"Can you ping the server?" means typing ping xx.xx.xx.xx at the command line. The xx's are the four numbers in the dotted decimal IP address used to identify IP clients and servers. If the request times out, the address cannot be reached. A ping utility also typically supports DNS name resolution, and the domain name may be used. For example, ping www.computerlanguage.com would yield the same results as typing in the correct numeric address. See IP address, ICMP and DNS.

Ping Me!

The term was coined when submarines first used sonar to detect enemy ships. A pinging sound was heard in the headset when a signal reflected back from an object in the water.

Ping is geekspeak for "call" or "get in touch." "Ping me at home" means "call me at home." It is also used to mean sending or transmitting a short burst of data; for example, "the GPS transmitter pings the satellite every few seconds."

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[from the submariners' term for a sonar pulse]

1. n. Slang term for a small network message (ICMP ECHO) sent by a computer to check for the presence and alertness of another. The Unix command ping(8) can be used to do this manually (note that ping(8)'s author denies the widespread folk etymology that the name was ever intended as an acronym for ‘Packet INternet Groper’). Occasionally used as a phone greeting. See ACK, also ENQ.

2. vt. To verify the presence of.

3. vt. To get the attention of.

4. vt. To send a message to all members of a mailing list requesting an ACK (in order to verify that everybody's addresses are reachable). “We haven't heard much of anything from Geoff, but he did respond with an ACK both times I pinged jargon-friends.”

5. n. A quantum packet of happiness. People who are very happy tend to exude pings; furthermore, one can intentionally create pings and aim them at a needy party (e.g., a depressed person). This sense of ping may appear as an exclamation; “Ping!” (I'm happy; I am emitting a quantum of happiness; I have been struck by a quantum of happiness). The form “pingfulness”, which is used to describe people who exude pings, also occurs. (In the standard abuse of language, “pingfulness” can also be used as an exclamation, in which case it's a much stronger exclamation than just “ping”!). Oppose blargh.

The funniest use of ‘ping’ to date was described in January 1991 by Steve Hayman on the Usenet group comp.sys.next. He was trying to isolate a faulty cable segment on a TCP/IP Ethernet hooked up to a NeXT machine, and got tired of having to run back to his console after each cabling tweak to see if the ping packets were getting through. So he used the sound-recording feature on the NeXT, then wrote a script that repeatedly invoked ping(8), listened for an echo, and played back the recording on each returned packet. Result? A program that caused the machine to repeat, over and over, “Ping ... ping ... ping ...” as long as the network was up. He turned the volume to maximum, ferreted through the building with one ear cocked, and found a faulty tee connector in no time.

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Clear, sharp, high-pitched, metallic, musical note created by a flicking percussion stroke over a viscus containing gas under moderate pressure and a small amount of fluid; used extensively in the physical examination of the abdomen in cattle and horses.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - smæld, piben, kort, skarp metallisk lyd
v. intr. - smælde, visle

Nederlands (Dutch)
ping (geluid), het geluid 'ping' maken

Français (French)
n. - tintement, claquement, (US) bruit inquiétant (moteur), ding (onomatopée)
v. intr. - tinter, claquer, sonner

Deutsch (German)
n. - Pfeifen, Klingeln
v. - pfeifen, klingeln

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σφύριγμα σφαίρας, ήχος βολίδας, κουδούνισμα
v. - χτυπώ κουδουνιστά, σφυρίζω, κινούμαι ή περνώ σαν βολίδα, (καθομ.) πάω σβουριχτός

Italiano (Italian)
impulso sonoro, sibilare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - silvo (f)
v. - silvar

Русский (Russian)
свист, писк, свистеть, пискнуть

Español (Spanish)
n. - silbido (como de bala), sonido corto y metálico
v. intr. - silbar, zumbar (bala), producir un sonido corto y metálico

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - smäll, vinande, ping (datorsignal till annan dator), hydrofonping
v. - vina, vissla, smälla, pinga (dator) (hydrofon)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
砰, 砰地作声

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 砰
v. intr. - 砰地作聲

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 핑(유리 등에 딱딱한 것이 부딪치는 소리)
v. intr. - 핑소리 나다, (엔진 등이) 노킹하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - ピーンと音を出す
n. - ピューン, ピーン

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أزيز الرصاص (فعل) يئز الرصاص‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שריקה, צלצול, צליל גבוה‬
v. intr. - ‮הרעיש, צלצל‬

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Ping	Ping Pong
ping	ping pals