wham
Americannoun
-
a loud sound produced by an explosion or sharp impact.
the wham of a pile driver.
-
a forcible impact.
interjection
verb (used with or without object)
adverb
noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012interjection
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012verb
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of wham
First recorded in 1730–40; 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.
With these “stealthy” solar events, “there’s a kind of meager-looking eruption and then, all of a sudden, wham!”
From Scientific American
I don’t need this emotional wham on top of everything else I’m dealing with.
From Washington Post
“They couldn’t impeach him. Everything was going good and wham, all of a sudden, we got a freaking virus.”
From Seattle Times
I substituted it for the water, and wham, my already trusty recipe became a full blown superstar, simultaneously intense and elegant.
From Salon
Some guy with a mustache opened his laptop, fired up Twitter, and — wham! — found himself Intrigued.
From Washington Post
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.
