wham

[hwam, wam] /ʰwæm, wæm/
noun
1.
a loud sound produced by an explosion or sharp impact:
the wham of a pile driver.
2.
a forcible impact.
interjection
3.
(used as an exclamation suggestive of a loud slam, blow, or the like).
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), whammed, whamming.
4.
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
5.
Also, whammo. abruptly; with startling suddenness:
The car ran wham up against the building.
Origin
1730-40; imitative
Examples from the web for wham
  • wham-o took on the name but changed the spelling for legal reasons.
  • What will happen is, wham bang, suddenly the treaty will look attractive.
British Dictionary definitions for wham

wham

/wæm/
noun
1.
a forceful blow or impact or the sound produced by such a blow or impact
interjection
2.
an exclamation imitative of this sound
verb whams, whamming, whammed
3.
to strike or cause to strike with great force
Word Origin
C20: of imitative origin
Word Origin and History for wham
n.

"a heavy blow," 1923, of echoic origin.

Slang definitions & phrases for wham

wham

interjection

(also whammo) An exclamation signaling the suddenness, violence, surprise, etc, of a quick, sharp blow: Wham! suddenly the meaning hit me/ And then—whammo—she was blindsided (1932+)

verb

To hit; strike; sock: And the whamming continues

[1925+; echoic, and related in sound symbolism to whip, whale, whack, whomp, whop, and other wh-words denoting blows]