Ping

Table of contents

1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 See also 1.3 Verb 1.3.1 See also 1.4 Proper noun 1.4.1 References

English

Etymology

Onamotopoetic

Noun

ping (pings )

1. 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.

2. (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.

3. (networking) A packet which a remote host is expected to echo, thus indicating its presence.

   The network is overloaded from all the pings going out.

4. An email or other message sent requesting acknowledgement.

   I sent a ping to the insurance company to see if they received our claim.

See also

• beep
• peep
• feep
• ping pong
• ack
• heartbeat

Verb

to ping (pings , pinged , pinging )

1. To make a high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound.

   My car was pinging until my last oil change.

2. (submarine navigation) To emit a signal and then listen for its echo in order to detect objects.
3. (networking) To send a packet in order to determine whether a host is present, particularly by use of the ping utility.

   I'm pinging kremvax.

   The server pings its affiliates periodically.

4. (networking) To ping and receive an acknowledgement.

   I can't ping kremvax.

5. 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.

6. To flick

   I pinged the crumb off the table with my finger.

7. To bounce

   The ball pinged off the wall and came hurtling back.

8. To cause something to bounce

   "Ping the ball!"

See also

• poll

Proper noun

1. (computing) The ping network utility. (Note: not generally capitalized).
2. (golf) A manufacturer of golf clubs.

References

• http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/ping.html