ping-pong

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   informal or trademark name for table tennis, a game in which players hit a light ball across a table divided by a net

   They played ping-pong in the recreation room after dinner.

2. 2
   verb

   to move, change, or be passed rapidly back and forth between places, states, people, or groups

   The request ping-ponged between departments for weeks.

An echoic compound imitating the repeated sounds of a light ball striking a table and paddle. Ping-Pong was adopted as a proprietary name for table tennis around 1900 and later developed widespread informal and figurative uses.

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