ping7 definitions found ping - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 : Ping \Ping\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Pinged; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinging.] To make the sound called ping. [1913 Webster] Ping \Ping\, n. [Probably of imitative origin.] The sound made by a bullet in striking a solid object or in passing through the air. [1913 Webster] backfire \backfire\, back fire \back fire\ 1. A fire started ahead of a forest or prairie fire to burn only against the wind, so that when the two fires meet both must go out for lack of fuel. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] 2. (a) A premature explosion in the cylinder of a gas or oil engine during the exhaust or the compression stroke, tending to drive the piston in a direction reverse to that in which it should travel; also called a knock or ping. (b) an explosion in the exhaust passages of an internal combustion engine. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC] Backfire ping - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) : Ping n 1: a river in western Thailand; a major tributary of the Chao Phraya [syn: Ping, Ping River] 2: a sharp high-pitched resonant sound (as of a sonar echo or a bullet striking metal) v 1: hit with a pinging noise; "The bugs pinged the lamp shade" 2: sound like a car engine that is firing too early; "the car pinged when I put in low-octane gasoline"; "The car pinked when the ignition was too far retarded" [syn: pink, ping, knock] 3: make a short high-pitched sound; "the bullet pinged when they struck the car" 4: contact, usually in order to remind of something; "I'll ping my accountant--April 15 is nearing" 5: send a message from one computer to another to check whether it is reachable and active; "ping your machine in the office" ping - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) : ping Packet InterNet Groper ping command pinging <networking, tool> (ping, originally contrived to match submariners' term for the sound of a returned sonar pulse) A program written in 1983 by Mike Muuss (who also wrote TTCP) used to test reachability of destinations by sending them one, or repeated, ICMP echo requests and waiting for replies. Since ping works at the IP level its server-side is often implemented entirely within the operating system kernel and is thus the lowest level test of whether a remote host is alive. Ping will often respond even when higher level, TCP-based services cannot. Sadly, Mike Muuss was killed in a road accident on 2000-11-20. The term is also used as a verb: "Ping host X to see if it is up." The Unix command "ping" can be used to do this and to measure round-trip delays. The funniest use of "ping" was described in January 1991 by Steve Hayman on the Usenet group comp.sys.next. He was trying to isolate a faulty cable segment on a TCP/IP Ethernet hooked up to a NeXT machine. Using the sound recording feature on the NeXT, he wrote a script that repeatedly invoked ping, listened for an echo, and played back the recording on each returned packet. This caused the machine to repeat, over and over, "Ping ... ping ... ping ..." as long as the network was up. He turned the volume to maximum, ferreted through the building with one ear cocked, and found a faulty tee connector in no time. Ping did not stand for "Packet InterNet Groper", Dave Mills offered this backronym expansion some time later. See also ACK, ENQ, traceroute, spray. The Story of the Ping Program (http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/ping.html) . Unix manual page: ping(8). (2005-06-22) ping - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) : ping [from the submariners' term for a sonar pulse] 1. n. Slang term for a small network message (ICMP ECHO) sent by a computer to check for the presence and alertness of another. The Unix command ping(8) can be used to do this manually (note that ping(8)'s author denies the widespread folk etymology that the name was ever intended as an acronym for `Packet INternet Groper'). Occasionally used as a phone greeting. See ACK, also ENQ. 2. vt. To verify the presence of. 3. vt. To get the attention of. 4. vt. To send a message to all members of a mailing list requesting an ACK (in order to verify that everybody's addresses are reachable). "We haven't heard much of anything from Geoff, but he did respond with an ACK both times I pinged jargon-friends." 5. n. A quantum packet of happiness. People who are very happy tend to exude pings; furthermore, one can intentionally create pings and aim them at a needy party (e.g., a depressed person). This sense of ping may appear as an exclamation; "Ping!" (I'm happy; I am emitting a quantum of happiness; I have been struck by a quantum of happiness). The form "pingfulness", which is used to describe people who exude pings, also occurs. (In the standard abuse of language, "pingfulness" can also be used as an exclamation, in which case it's a much stronger exclamation than just "ping"!). Oppose blargh. The funniest use of `ping' to date was described in January 1991 by Steve Hayman on the Usenet group comp.sys.next. He was trying to isolate a faulty cable segment on a TCP/IP Ethernet hooked up to a NeXT machine, and got tired of having to run back to his console after each cabling tweak to see if the ping packets were getting through. So he used the sound-recording feature on the NeXT, then wrote a script that repeatedly invoked ping(8), listened for an echo, and played back the recording on each returned packet. Result? A program that caused the machine to repeat, over and over, "Ping ... ping ... ping ..." as long as the network was up. He turned the volume to maximum, ferreted through the building with one ear cocked, and found a faulty tee connector in no time. ping - V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2006) : PING Packet InterNet Groper (ICMP, TCP/IP) |