wham

[ wam, hwam ]

noun

1. a loud sound produced by an explosion or sharp impact:

   the wham of a pile driver.

2. a forcible impact.

interjection

1. (used as an exclamation suggestive of a loud slam, blow, or the like.)

verb (used with or without object)

, whammed, wham·ming.

1. to hit or make a forcible impact, especially one producing a loud sound:

   The boat whammed into the dock.

   He whammed the door shut.

adverb

1. Also abruptly; with startling suddenness:

   The car ran wham up against the building.

wham

/ wæm /

noun

1. a forceful blow or impact or the sound produced by such a blow or impact

interjection

1. an exclamation imitative of this sound

verb

1. to strike or cause to strike with great force

Word History and Origins

Origin of wham¹

First recorded in 1730–40; imitative

Word History and Origins

Origin of wham¹

C20: of imitative origin

Example Sentences

The chopper was near the hospital, “and just about that time, ‘wham!’”

From Seattle Times

The notion of a retrospective, a staple of museum programming, is less common in the theater, where audiences have been trained to think of theater outings as one-night-stands — wham, bam, thank you Mamet.

From Los Angeles Times

With these “stealthy” solar events, “there’s a kind of meager-looking eruption and then, all of a sudden, wham!”

From Scientific American

“Stacked up, big storm after big storm after big storm — wham, wham, wham.”

From Seattle Times

One doesn’t expect to have one’s stomach churned by such a documentary, but then — wham!

From New York Times