# boom

> English word · Verb · IPA /buːm/ · frequency rank #4,062

## Definitions
1. To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound.
2. To exclaim with force, to shout, to thunder.
3. To flourish, grow, or progress.
4. To make (something) boom.
5. To make a deep, resonant, territorial vocalisation.
6. To cause a sonic boom.
7. To subject (someone or something) to a sonic boom.
8. To publicly praise, to rally behind.
9. To rush forwards with such violent intensity that it generates a sustained, overwhelming, roaring noise; especially from the perspective of a bystander who has been suddenly subjected to it.
10. To rapidly adjust the evaluation of a position away from zero, indicating a likely win or loss.
11. To cause to advance rapidly in price.

## Etymology
Onomatopoeic, perhaps borrowed; compare German bummen, Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”). The sense "a period of economic growth" is generally taken to derive from the sense "a rapid expansion", although other origins have also been suggested.

## Easily confused with
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-boy)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-box)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bro)
- **bow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bow)
- **bot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bot)
- **bum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bum)
- **bop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bop)
- **bor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bor)
- **BPM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bpm)
- **both** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-both)
- **born** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-born)
- **boys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-boys)
- **boss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-boss)
- **bowl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bowl)
- **boot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-boot)
- **bros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bros)
- **bout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bout)
- **bore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-bore)
- **Boyd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-boyd)
- **brow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-brow)

## Common misspellings (4)
`bboom`, `bomo`, `boomm`, `obom`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/boom