gong en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ɡɒŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- go͝ong
- /ɡɑŋ/ (cot-caught-merger)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ɡɔŋ/ (General-American)
Etymology
Borrowed from Malay gong (possibly onomatopoeic).
Meanings
-
A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a loud resonant sound when struck with a soft hammer.
All the time six or eight large Chinese gongs were being beaten by the vigorous arms of as many young men, producing such a deafening discord that I was glad to escape to the round house, where I slept very comfortably with half a dozen smoke-dried human skulls suspended over my head.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 110:
-
(UK, slang) A medal or award, particularly Knight Bachelor.
This grooming of the national mindset explains the retention of 92 "hereditary peers" in the House of Lords: individuals who are gifted a right to sit in the nation's upper chamber and facilitate laws for no other reason than that their ancestor was the illegitimate child of some prince, or willing to spaff a few quid on the title when David Lloyd Gorge was selling of gongs for bribes.
2021, Otto English, Fake History, page 114:
-
A metal target that emits a sound when it has been hit.
Weems picked up the hammer and hit the gong so hard that it spun right around on its hanger and fell off.
1986, Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic, published 2022, page 184:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gong ] | canonical | lexicographic | |
| gongs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
sprinkler gong · gongman · gong show · gonglike · slit-gong · gongster · nipple gong · gong bath
Translations (56)
mk гонг (percussion instrument) · he גונג (percussion instrument) · es batintín (percussion instrument) · es gongo (percussion instrument) · vi cồng chiêng (percussion instrument) · ru гонг (percussion instrument) · pl gong (percussion instrument) · de Gong (percussion instrument) · uk гонг (percussion instrument) · vi cồng (percussion instrument) · scn gong (percussion instrument) · mnc ᠯᠣᠩᡴᠣᠨ (percussion instrument) · sq gong (percussion instrument) · sip མཁར་རྔ (percussion instrument) · th ฆ้อง (percussion instrument) · ms gong (percussion instrument) · ja 銅鑼 (percussion instrument) · it gong (percussion instrument) · fr gong (percussion instrument) · blt ꪁ꫁ꪮꪉ (percussion instrument) · cmn 鑼 /锣 (percussion instrument) · eo gongo (percussion instrument) · el γκονγκ (percussion instrument) · da gongong (percussion instrument) · mrw momongan (percussion instrument) · hi घंटा (percussion instrument) · lo ຄ້ອງ (percussion instrument) · fi gongi (percussion instrument) · ar نَاقُوس (percussion instrument) · ln lokole (percussion instrument) · ro gong (percussion instrument) · sh гонг (percussion instrument) · sl gong (percussion instrument) · es gong (percussion instrument) · ca gong (percussion instrument) · hu gong (percussion instrument) · be гонг (percussion instrument) · id gong (percussion instrument) · ka გონგი (percussion instrument) · yue 鑼 /锣 (percussion instrument) · bg гонг (percussion instrument) · ko 징 (percussion instrument) · ko 공 (percussion instrument) · ja ゴング (percussion instrument) · nl gong (percussion instrument) · sv gonggong (percussion instrument) · sh gong (percussion instrument) · cs gong (percussion instrument) · khb ᦅᦸᧂᧉ (percussion instrument) · mi pahū (percussion instrument) · bo འཁར་རྔ (percussion instrument) · tr gong (percussion instrument) · af ghong (percussion instrument) · ar جَرَس (percussion instrument) · no gong (percussion instrument) · pt gongo (percussion instrument)