whump

1. noun, informal An onomatopoeia for the dull thud created when something large or flat strikes another surface. He dropped the stack of books on the desk with a whump. The tree went "whump" when it landed on the ground.

2. verb, informal To strike someone or something very heavily, producing such a dull thud as a result. He whumped the side of the jukebox with his foot to get it started again. I wish you wouldn't whump me on the back like that whenever you see me.

3. verb, informal By extension, to defeat someone soundly, especially in an athletic competition. They whumped the other team in the championship game. A: "How'd the game go?" B: "They whumped us 42 to 3."

whump

and whomp and womp (ʍəmp and ʍɑmp and wɑmp)

1. tv. to beat or outscore someone. They set out to whump us, and they sure did.

2. n. the sound made when two flat surfaces fall together. I heard the whump when the shed collapsed.

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References in periodicals archive

And what with me being short, and her being even shorter, and with her approaching from behind, as I'd done myself minutes earlier, she had done her 'sling and whump' in the confident expectation that she, and not ME, had bagged the table.

When even sitting down on a train can become a social faux pas; Navigating transport etiquette can be a confusing maze..

in center, then whump!, the ball I'd hit so high already down, him

Vacant Lot

We heard a crashing of sticks in the hall near the back door, followed by a massive whump! As if someone punched a pillow.

Goat pharmacy

He heard the plane making power changes before finally coming on with full power that was followed by a "whump," which shook the windows of his shop.

Iced-up departure: a sky lane pilot tries to outclimb icing conditions in low IFR, with deadly results

Competing for attention are the amplified soundtracks of three adjacent videos: the reverberate screeching in Christian Marclay's "Guitar Drag" (2000); the hum of reciprocating saws in Michael Landy's "Break Down" (2001); and the perpetual whump of rocks striking metal in Jimmie Durham's "Stoning the Refrigerator" (1996).

Under destruction II

It landed on the carpeted floor of the county chambers with a gentle "whump," but not gentle enough, it seemed.

A new era for our computers

The use of sounds--'whump', 'clug', 'thlluuuup', etc.--captures some of the fun and slapstick of a comic.

MacDonald, Alan: Oi, Caveboy! (Iggy the Urk)

This time we could hear the solid whump of the big bullet as the bear dropped.

Bears and the amber triangle: Trijicon's AccuPoint, teamed with a thumping 9.3mm wildcat, proves itself in Alaska's interior

He closed the cooler and turned and walked up to his house, hanging on to the door handle, and listened for a whump whump whump of the chopper blades coming from the city.

Cars blow by at more than 100 mph: Whump whump whump.

For novice racers, life speeds up on this track

His research is always first-class, and in Swordpoint, one can almost hear the whump of mortar bombs and the rip of German machine-gun fire as a rifle company struggles to establish a bridgehead across a river during the Italian Campaign.

What one book: Expert recommendations on a selected topic

FOR A MOMENT ONE CAN ALMOST HEAR THE "WHUMP, whump, whump" of a Bell UH-1 Huey helicopter--so nicknamed during the Vietnam War--as it navigates remote parts of the Southeast Asian country.

Veteran healer

About a minute away from the suspicious activity, he hovers, careful to minimize the whump, whump, whump of the helicopter's blades.

Eyes in the sky

When I landed, the shock not only bruised my tailbone, but it bent my back rim, I had to ride three miles home--standing the whole time--while the tire went whump, whump, whump.

Ignorance is bliss ... mistakes with no apparent penalty are poor teachers