bang

Less common meanings

11. 11
    fringenounarchaicUS

    Hair hanging over the forehead, especially when cut straight across as a hairstyle; the singular equivalent of the plural bangs.

    his hair cut in front like a young lady's bang

    1880, William Dean Howells, The Undiscovered Country

    She was not much to look at. Her red hair hung in an uncurled bang over her forehead

    1902, Barbara Baynton, Squeaker's Mate; reprinted in Carmel Bird

    Similarbangs

    Note

    A singular that has mostly given way to its plural. William Dean Howells's The Undiscovered Country (1880) describes hair 'cut in front like a young lady's bang', and Barbara Baynton's Squeaker's Mate (1902) gives a woman 'an uncurled bang'. It shares its square cut with the verb for cutting hair across. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • William Dean Howells wrote The Undiscovered Country, which contains the quoted description of hair. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Undiscovered Country was first published in book form in 1880. archive.org
    • Barbara Baynton wrote Squeaker's Mate, which describes a woman with an uncurled bang. en.wikisource.org
    • Squeaker's Mate was published in 1902, in Bush Studies. penguin.com.au
    • The noun and the hair-cutting verb both refer to cutting straight or squarely across. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    with a crashadverb

    With a sudden impact.

    He went bang into the lamppost while reading his phone.

    The shutter blew bang against the wall with every gust.

    UsageOften go bang into something.

    Similarsmack, slap

13. 13
    exclamation marknounUScountable

    Another name for the exclamation point, the punctuation mark (!).

    In many programming languages, a bang in front of a value means 'not'.

    Old email routes strung host names together with bangs.

    Note

    Shorthand for the exclamation point, chiefly American. It turns up in compounds such as bang path, an email route strung together with ! marks. The 1980 edition of the textbook Communicating through Letters and Reports already calls 'Bang' a useful abbreviation. The same habit of saying the symbol aloud gives mathematics its name for a factorial. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The cited textbook has a 1980 edition; the item explicitly dates that edition, not the book's first publication. archive.org
    • The cited edition calls 'Bang' a useful abbreviation for 'Exclamation point'. en.wiktionary.org
    • The mathematical name refers to pronouncing the exclamation point in factorial notation as 'bang'. ocw.mit.edu
14. 14
    thrillnounslangcountable

    A thrill; a jolt of excitement or pleasure.

    She gets a genuine bang out of solving a tough crossword.

    My grandfather still gets a bang out of driving his old convertible on summer weekends.

    UsageMostly in get a bang out of something, like get a kick out of.

    Similarkick, thrill, buzz, charge

    Note

    J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (1951) has 'I get a bang imitating them', and James Hadley Chase's Make the Corpse Walk (1946) has a man who 'got a bang out of cheating Rollo'. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • J. D. Salinger wrote The Catcher in the Rye, first published as a novel in 1951. en.wikipedia.org
    • The novel contains the exact quoted words, narrated by Holden Caulfield. core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
    • James Hadley Chase's Make the Corpse Walk was first published in 1946. openlibrary.org
    • Make the Corpse Walk contains the quoted description of a man enjoying cheating Rollo. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    cut straightverbtransitive

    To cut (hair, a horse's tail, or a person's forelock) squarely across.

    Grooms bang the tails of show horses before competition.

    After washing the tail, the groom banged it level a few inches below the hocks.

    Similartrim, crop

    Note

    The verb works for tails as well as heads: a horse's tail cut squarely across is banged, and so is a person's forelock. Writing about Zuni life in the early 1880s, Frank Hamilton Cushing describes hair that 'banged even with his eyebrows', using the verb for the finished line rather than for the act of cutting. The old singular for a fringe names the same square cut. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Frank Hamilton Cushing published an account of Zuni life in the early 1880s. en.wikisource.org
    • Cushing used the exact words quoted to describe the resulting haircut; the interpretation concerns the finished appearance. en.wiktionary.org
    • The historical singular noun bang could name hair cut straight across the forehead. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    drug shotnounslangcountable

    An injected dose of a narcotic drug such as heroin.

    After his first bang of heroin, he chased that feeling for years.

    By the time he checked into rehab, he needed a bang of heroin every few hours just to feel normal.

    Similarshot, fix, hit

    Note

    Mid-century drug slang. William S. Burroughs uses it in letters to Allen Ginsberg in 1951 and 1952: 'I take a bang now and then.' The same idea lives on in the verb for injecting. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The drug-injection noun is attested in mid-century letters from William S. Burroughs to Allen Ginsberg dated 20 December 1951 and 19 January 1952. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted words occur in Burroughs's letter of 19 January 1952; they are an excerpt from a longer sentence. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    inject drugsverbslangtransitive

    To inject a drug intravenously.

    Some users bang the drug rather than smoke it, which raises the risk of infection.

    He had been banging methamphetamine for a year before anyone noticed.

    UsageThe drug is the object: bang heroin. In clinical writing, the neutral word is inject.

    Similarinject, shoot, mainline

    Note

    Drug slang that sorts users by method. In 'Do you smoke meth? No, I bang it,' banging means injecting into a vein, as opposed to smoking.

18. 18
    turn (car)verbdialectalNew Englandintransitive

    To turn a vehicle, whether to the right or left or as a U-turn.

    If you miss the exit, just bang a U-ey at the next light and come back.

    The cab driver banged a quick right onto a side street to get around the traffic.

    UsageUsually bang a right, bang a left or bang a U-ey.

    Similarturn, hang

19. 19
    be in a gangverbslangUSintransitive

    To participate in street gang life and criminal activity; to gangbang.

    Plenty of kids on that block bang because they see no other option.

    He stopped banging after his best friend was shot.

    UsageCommon patterns include still bangs, used to bang, and stopped banging.

    Similargangbang

    Note

    A clipping of gangbang that keeps the full meaning: to bang is to be part of street-gang life, as in 'You know I still bang.' Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Wiktionary gives this exact sentence as an example of the gang-related meaning, without attributing it to a speaker. en.wiktionary.org
20. 20
    verbdatedtransitive

    To force prices down in a market, especially as a deliberate trading tactic.

    Similardepress, hammer

    Oppositeboost

    Note

    Old stock-exchange slang of the bear operator: to bang the market was to drive its prices down. The Bank – The Stock Exchange (1821) describes bears who 'conjointly banged the market', and Truth in 1901 reports that the London bears 'promptly banged the market again'. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Historical financial slang used bang for depressing market prices. en.wiktionary.org
    • The pamphlet describes bears using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    strong smellnounslangIrelandcountable

    A strong smell of something, especially one given off by a person or thing.

    You could get a bang of diesel off the old ferry from the dock.

    There's been a fierce bang of damp off that back bedroom all winter.

    UsageUsually a bang of something off someone or something: a bang of diesel off the ferry.

    Similarwhiff, stink, reek, stench, smell

22. 22
    fail (exam)verbslangNigeriatransitive

    To receive a failing grade in something, especially an exam.

    Half the lecture hall banged the organic chemistry midterm.

    Students who bang the bar exam can retake it in February.

    Similarflunk, fail, bomb

    Oppositepass, ace

23. 23
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To excel or surpass.
24. 24
    nounslangUS

    An abrupt left turn made in a vehicle.
25. 25
    noun

    A factorial, so called because the factorial of n is often written as n!.
26. 26
    noun

    A rhythmic figure on the offbeat, played on guitar and piano, that is characteristic of reggae.