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Synonyms

bleep

American  
[bleep] / blip /

noun

  1. a brief, constant beeping sound, usually of a high pitch and generated by an electronic device.

  2. such an electronic sound used to replace a censored word or phrase, as on a television broadcast.

  3. Also (used as a euphemism to indicate the omission or deletion of an obscenity or other objectionable word.)

verb (used without object)

  1. (of an electronic device) to emit a series of bleeps as an audible signal, summons, or warning.

verb (used with object)

  1. Also to censor (an obscene, vulgar, or other objectionable word or phrase) from a radio or television broadcast by deleting from the audio signal, leaving a gap or an electronic tone.

    The word was bleeped out of the comedian's routine.
bleep British  
/ bliːp /

noun

  1. a short high-pitched signal made by an electronic apparatus; beep

  2. another word for bleeper

"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

verb

  1. (intr) to make such a noise

  2. (tr) to call (someone) by triggering the bleeper he or she is wearing

"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 bleep

First recorded in 1950–55; perhaps imitative

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.

“I’ll be catching up with an old friend that I haven’t seen in a long time,” Cape said, “and all of a sudden my phone goes — bleep — 30 minutes until the Subhumans!”

From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2024

The tribunal accepted the MoD's argument that level 7.6 on the bleep test was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim but said the application of the test must also be proportionate.

From BBC • Sep. 29, 2023

Mr Keating said MoD police firearms officers no longer needed to complete the bleep test and it had been replaced with fitness tests designed by the Institute of Naval Medicine.

From BBC • Sep. 29, 2023

“Do you think they’ll bleep it?” anxiously wonders Ribon.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 7, 2023

I kind of sleep, kind of don’t—the bells go off, announcements bleep out across the air.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.