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a loud, sudden, explosive noise, as the discharge of a gun.
a resounding stroke or blow:
a nasty bang on the head.
Informal. a sudden movement or show of energy:
He started with a bang.
energy; vitality; spirit:
The bang has gone out of my work.
Informal. sudden or intense pleasure; thrill; excitement:
a big bang out of seeing movies.
Slang: Vulgar. sexual intercourse.
Printing and Computer Slang. an exclamation point.
to strike or beat resoundingly; pound:
to bang a door.
to hit or bump painfully:
to bang one’s ankle on a chair leg.
to throw or set down roughly; slam:
He banged the plates on the table.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.
to strike violently or noisily:
to bang on the door.
to make a loud, sudden, explosive noise like that of a violent blow:
The guns banged all night.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.
suddenly and loudly; abruptly or violently:
She fell bang against the wall.
directly; precisely; right:
He stood bang in the middle of the flower bed.
bang into, to collide with; bump into:
The truck skidded on the ice and banged into a parked car.
bang up, to damage:
A passing car banged up our fender.
bang off, Chiefly British Slang. immediately; right away.
bang on, Chiefly British Slang. terrific; marvelous; just right:
That hat is absolutely bang on.
Often, bangs. a fringe of hair combed or brushed forward over the forehead.
to cut (the hair) so as to form a fringe over the forehead.
to dock (the tail of a horse or dog).
bhang.
a mild preparation of marijuana made from young leaves and stems of the Indian hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, drunk with milk or water as a fermented brew or smoked for its hallucinogenic effects.
a water pipe.
Contemporary Examples

But according to C, getting matched with a bang buddy is just part of the equation.
Bang With Friends Facebook App Won’t Be Just About Sex, CEO Says Anna Klassen February 25, 2013

Lightning bolts are dispersed with little more than a flash and a bang.
Did Lightning Bring Down Flight 447? Clive Irving May 31, 2009

But Wallace, who never lost that marvelous deep growl of a voice, did more than bang on people.
Howard Kurtz Remembers Mike Wallace, Legendary CBS Newsman, Dead at 93 Howard Kurtz April 7, 2012

But now he can bang the drum on something that appeals deeply to these folks.
Why the IRS Scandal Matters Justin Green May 13, 2013

To be sure, she attracts more of the Pinterest kind of crowd than the type of girls found on, say, bang With Friends.
Lauren Conrad Is The World’s Most Successful Reality-TV Defector Misty White Sidell June 16, 2013

Historical Examples

We had almost finished when the snipers somewhere on our left began to bang at us.
World’s War Events, Vol. I Various

So he lay down in the coffin but no sooner was he inside when bang!
Ancient Man Hendrik Willem van Loon

Then he strode out of the room, giving the door a bang behind him.
Frank Merriwell’s New Comedian Burt L. Standish

A pushing open of the outer door, a bang, and hasty footsteps in the hall.
The Channings Mrs. Henry Wood

Lysander brought his chair to the floor with a bang that made the loose boards of the porch rattle.
Stories of the Foot-hills Margaret Collier Graham

noun
a short loud explosive noise, as of the bursting of a balloon or the report of a gun
a hard blow or knock, esp a noisy one; thump: he gave the ball a bang
(informal) a startling or sudden effect: he realized with a bang that he was late
(slang) an injection of heroin or other narcotic
(taboo, slang) an act of sexual intercourse
(US & Canadian, slang) get a bang out of, to experience a thrill or excitement from
with a bang, successfully: the party went with a bang
verb
to hit or knock, esp with a loud noise; bump: to bang one’s head
to move noisily or clumsily: to bang about the house
to close (a door, window, etc) or (of a door, etc) be closed noisily; slam
(transitive) to cause to move by hitting vigorously: he banged the ball over the fence
to make or cause to make a loud noise, as of an explosion
(transitive) (Brit)

to cause (stock prices) to fall by rapid selling
to sell rapidly in (a stock market), thus causing prices to fall

(taboo, slang) to have sexual intercourse with
(intransitive) (slang) to inject heroin, etc
(informal) bang for one’s buck, value for money: this option offers more bang for your buck
(informal) bang goes, that is the end of: bang goes my job in Wapping
bang one’s head against a brick wall, to try to achieve something impossible
adverb
with a sudden impact or effect: bang went his hopes of winning, the car drove bang into a lamp-post
precisely: bang in the middle of the road
(slang) bang to rights, caught red-handed
go bang, to burst, shut, etc, with a loud noise See also bang up
noun
a fringe or section of hair cut straight across the forehead
verb (transitive)
to cut (the hair) in such a style
to dock (the tail of a horse, etc)
noun
a variant spelling of bhang
noun
a preparation of the leaves and flower tops of Indian hemp, which has psychoactive properties: much used in India See also cannabis
v.

1540s, “to strike hard with a loud blow,” from a Scandinavian sourse akin to Old Norse banga “to pound, hammer” of echoic origin. Slang meaning “have sexual intercourse with” first recorded 1937. Bang-up “excellent, first-rate,” 1820, probably shortened from phrase bang up to the mark. The noun is recorded from late 16c.

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper

[T.S. Eliot, “Hollow Men,” 1925]

n.

1590s, from Hindi bhang “narcotic from hemp,” from Sanskrit bhangah “hemp.” Cognate with Russian penika, Polish pienka (from Russian) “hemp.” The word first appears in Western Europe in Portuguese (1560s).

Bang (bāng, bäng), Bernhard Lauritz Frederik. 1848-1932.

Danish veterinarian who discovered Brucella abortus, the agent of brucellosis in cattle and of undulant fever in humans.

adverb

Precisely; exactly: bang on the hour (1820s+)

noun

A very pleasurable sensation; surge of joy; thrill; kick, rush: This’ll give you a big bang (1930+)
An injection of a narcotic, esp an intravenous shot of heroin (1910+ Narcotics)
The sex act: The wedding night, you idiot. The first bang. How was it?
An exclamation point; shriek: Let’s stick a bang on it to dress it up (Printers 1930s+, computer 1980s+)
A drink of liquor; shot: Give me a bang of Jaeger Meister (1990s+) v1x To do the sex act with or to; copulate with: He banged her twice and left happy (1916+) 2 To be in a youth gang; be a gangbanger

Related Terms

big bang, gang bang, get a bang (or charge) out of someone or something, go over with a bang, whizbang

[late 1980s+ Los Angeles gangs; from the rhyme, but influenced by gang bang, ”serial sex act done by a group of males to one woman”]

noun

Marijuana; a marijuana cigarette: old bhang in his car

1. A common spoken name for “!” (ASCII 33), especially when used in pronouncing a bang path in spoken hackish. In elder days this was considered a CMUish usage, with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring excl or shriek; but the spread of Unix has carried “bang” with it (especially via the term bang path) and it is now certainly the most common spoken name for “!”. Note that it is used exclusively for non-emphatic written “!”; one would not say “Congratulations bang” (except possibly for humorous purposes), but if one wanted to specify the exact characters “foo!” one would speak “Eff oh oh bang”.
See pling, shriek, ASCII.
2. An exclamation signifying roughly “I have achieved enlightenment!”, or “The dynamite has cleared out my brain!” Often used to acknowledge that one has perpetrated a thinko immediately after one has been called on it.
[Jargon File]
(1995-01-31)

bang away
bang for the buck
bang into
bang one’s head against
bang out
bang up