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PlainSpell

bang

/ˈbæŋ/noun, verb, adverb, interjection

bang is spelled B-A-N-G: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bang means “A sudden percussive noise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bang is bangs.

How many letters and syllables are in bang?

Letters4: B-A-N-G
Syllables1
In writing21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is bang?

Bang appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bang?

  • US /ˈbæŋ/
  • US [ˈbæŋ]
  • British /ˈbaŋ/

Bang has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bang.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with bang

Sounds like: bhang (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with bang?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bang from its last stressed vowel (/æŋ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of bang

  • bangs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • banging participle, present
  • banged participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bang mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A sudden percussive noise.

    When he struck it with a hammer, there was a loud bang.

  2. 2

    A heavy strike upon an object causing such a noise.

    I gave the door a bang and it swung open.

  3. 3

    informalAn explosion.

    When he pushed the detonator, the bang blew him off his feet.

  4. 4

    USarchaicSynonym of bangs: hair hanging over the forehead, especially a hairstyle with such hair cut straight across.

  5. 5

    USThe symbol !, known as an exclamation point.

    An e-mail address with an ! is called a bang path.

  6. 6

    A factorial, in mathematics, because the factorial of n is written as n!

  7. 7

    slangvulgarAn act of sexual intercourse.

  8. 8

    An offbeat figure typical of reggae songs and played on guitar and piano.

verb

  1. 1

    To make sudden loud noises, often repeatedly, especially by exploding or hitting something.

    The fireworks banged away all through the night.

  2. 2

    To hit hard.

    He banged the door shut.

  3. 3

    To play a drum.

    He banged his bongo in sync with the band.

  4. 4

    slangvulgarTo engage in sexual intercourse.

    We can hear the couple banging upstairs.

  5. 5

    To hammer or to hit anything hard.

    Hold the picture while I bang in this nail.

  6. 6

    To cut squarely across, as the tail of a horse, or a person's forelock; to cut (the hair).

  7. 7

    slangTo inject intravenously.

    Do you smoke meth? No, I bang it.

  8. 8

    datedTo depress the prices in (a market).

adverb

  1. 1

    informalRight, directly.

    The passenger door was bang against the garage wall.

  2. 2

    informalPrecisely, exactly, completely.

    He arrived bang on time.

  3. 3

    informalWith a sudden impact.

    Distracted, he ran bang into the opening door.

  4. 4

    informalUsed as a general intensifier.

    I'm bang up for it! (I'm very keen and willing to do it)

interjection

  1. 1

    A sudden percussive sound, such as made by the firing of a gun, slamming of a door, etc.

    He pointed his finger at her like a gun and said, “Bang!”

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate bang?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of bang: TRB.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bang in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcoup, détonation (a sudden percussive noise), explosion (an explosion), point d'exclamation (the symbol !), claquer, cogner (to make sudden loud noises)
GermanKnall (a sudden percussive noise), Explosion (an explosion), knallen (to make sudden loud noises), Schlag, Hieb (a strike upon an object causing such a noise), pony (hair hanging over the forehead)
Portugueseestalo, estrondo (a sudden percussive noise), explosão (an explosion), ponto de exclamação (the symbol !), pancada (a strike upon an object causing such a noise), franja (hair hanging over the forehead)
Spanishestallido, estruendo, chupinazo (a sudden percussive noise), golpe, zumbido, percusión (a strike upon an object causing such a noise)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bang come from?

From Middle English *bangen, from Old English *bangian or borrowed from Old Norse banga (“to pound, hammer”); both from Proto-Germanic *bangōną (“to beat, pound”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰen- (“to beat, hit, injure”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after bang