List of onomatopoeias explained
This is a list of onomatopoeias, i.e. words that imitate, resemble, or suggest the source of the sound that they describe. For more information, see the linked articles.
Human vocal sounds
Sounds made by devices or other objects
- Awooga, or Aooga, the sound of an old-fashioned vehicle horn
- Beep, a high-pitched signal
- Beep, beep, 1929 word for a car horn
- Ching, the sound of metal on metal
- Clink, the sound of glass on glass
- Fizz, sound of effervescence
- Flutter, sound of rapid motion, e.g. aeroelastic flutter
- Oom-pah, the rhythmical sound of a deep brass instrument in a band
- Slosh
- Splash, sound of water upon disturbance
- Tick tick tick, sound of a timer
- Tick tock, sound of a clock
- Twang, having the sharp, vibrating tone of a plucked string
- Vroom, sound of an engine revving up
- Zap, sound of an electrostatic discharge
Things named after sounds
- Choo Choo, childish word for a train, after the sound of a steam locomotive
- Flip-flops, a type of sandal
- Khilkhilat, a type of ambulance in Gujarat for transporting newborn babies, meaning "Giggles"
- Tuk-tuk, word for an auto rickshaw in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America
- Tweeter, a high frequency loudspeaker named after a bird's shrill tweet
- Woofer, a low frequency loudspeaker named after a dog's low bark
Animal and bird names
Animal and bird noises
For sounds listed by the name of the animal, see List of animal sounds.
English words for animal noises include:
vocalization of sheep; "Baa, baa, black sheep"
- Bark, sound of a dog
- Bleat, sound of a sheep
- Buzz, sound of bees or insects flying
- Chirp, bird call
- Chirp, sound made by rubbing together feet or other body parts, e.g. by a cricket or a cicada
- Gobble, a turkey call
- Growl, low, guttural vocalization produced by predatory animals
- Hiss, sound made by a snake
- Honk, call of the male Canada goose
- Hoot, call of an owl
- Howl, sound made by canines, especially wolves
- Meow, cry of a cat
- Moo, sound of a cow
- Purr, a tonal, fluttering sound made by all members of the cat family
- Quack, call of a duck
- Ribbit, sound of some Pacific tree frogs or bullfrogs
- Roar, deep, bellowing outburst made by various animals
- Screech, high-pitched strident or piercing sound, as made by a screech owl
- Tweet, sound of a bird
- Woof, sound of a dog
Music groups or terms
- Bebop, a style of jazz
- Boom bap, a subgenre and production style of hip hop named after the sounds used for the bass and snare drums
- Djent, a style of progressive metal named after the sound of a palm-muted guitar
- Donk, a style of UK house music containing distinctive percussion sounds
- Doof doof, Australian slang term describes electronic music heard at raves
- Kecak, part of a musical drama, is named after monkey chatter, and "chak" is also the sound of a struck bar percussion instrument as in a gamelan
- Oom-pah, brass instruments, also Humppa
- Ratatat, a New York City experimental electronic rock duo
- Ska, a style of music characterised by a walking bass line
- Wah-wah, the sound of altering the resonance of musical notes to extend expressiveness
Works, groups and characters named after sounds
- "Boum!", a song.
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a fictional car in the film of the same name based on the children's novel by Ian Fleming, named for the unusual noise of its engine.
- Clank, from the video game series Ratchet & Clank.
- Cock a doodle doo, from a nursery rhyme about a cockerel.
- Kachi-kachi Yama, a Japanese folktale, named for the crackling of a fire.
- Rattle and Hum, sixth album by the Irish band U2.
- Snap, Crackle and Pop, advertising mascots for branded cereal.
- Whaam!, pop art painting drawing from onomatopoeia in superhero comics (in this case, an explosion).
- Wham!, a 1980s English musical duo formed by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
Sounds in fiction
- Bamf, the sound Nightcrawler makes when teleporting
- Biff, Pow, Wham, Bam, Zap etc, used to represent punching an enemy in silver age superhero comic books, popularized by the 1966 Batman TV Series
- Budda Budda Budda, commonly used in Marvel and DC comics to represent machine gun fire
- Krakoom and Thoom, respectively the sound of thunder summoned by Thor's hammer Mjolnir and when the hammer physically hits a target
- Pew-pew or pew-pew-pew, the sound of a laser gun in science fiction[3]
- Shrrm, the sound of a lightsaber being ignited
- Snikt, the sound of Wolverine's claws being extended
- Thwip, the sound that Spider-Man's web shooters make
- Vwoop, the sound of an Enderman from Minecraft teleporting
- Vworp, the sound the TARDIS makes when it materializes
See also
Notes and References
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coqu%C3%AD#Spanish
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spring_peeper
- Web site: pew pew . https://web.archive.org/web/20210225143904/https://www.lexico.com/definition/pew_pew . dead . February 25, 2021 . Lexico . Oxford Dictionary . 14 August 2020.