ping-pong

¹ American

[ping-pong, -pawng] / ˈpɪŋˌpɒŋ, -ˌpɔŋ /

verb (used with object)

to move back and forth or transfer rapidly from one locale, job, etc., to another; switch.

The patient was ping-ponged from one medical specialist to another.

verb (used without object)

to go back and forth; change rapidly or regularly; shift; bounce.

For ten years the foreign correspondent ping-ponged between London and Paris.

Ping-Pong ² American

[ping-pong, -pawng] / ˈpɪŋˌpɒŋ, -ˌpɔŋ /

Trademark.

table tennis.

Ping-Pong British

/ ˈpɪŋˌpɒŋ /

noun

Also called: ping pong. another name for table tennis

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of ping-pong

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It could rewrite the rules that divvy up the ping-pong balls for the draft lottery.

From The Wall Street Journal

His rider contains only healthful snacks: granola bars, melon slices, grapes large as ping-pong balls.

From Los Angeles Times

Timothee Chalamet is also gathering momentum for the best actor award after wins at the Critics Choice and Golden Globes for his performance as an always-hustling ping-pong player with grand ambitions.

From Barron's

Luckily, a rigged ping-pong exhibition match allows Marty to embrace his theatrical talents.

From Los Angeles Times

“And then there’s that final moment where Marty’s in the ambience of the stadium crowd embracing him, where all the people who love ping-pong are around him. It was a big step for him in the search of his identity of who he was.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023