Written Sound
Onomatopoeia Dictionary
Words that sound like the thing they mean: Imitative words. From the Greek "onoma" (name) and "poiein" (to make)
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bamf

BAMF in the Marvel comic books represents the sound of X-Men character Nightcrawler when he transports himself. The sound is caused by air rushing into the area where Nightcrawler's body once was

misc gas movement

batabatabata

sound of a helicopter. Find all helicopter sounds

engine helicopter movement

borborygmus

the rumbling sound produced by the movement of gas through the intestines of animals, including humans. Stomach growling.

eat_drink animal gas

bumble

to blunder, from Middle English bomblen (to boom)

movement

chakk-chackk-chak-chak, chak-a-chak-akk-chk-chk-chk

sound of a helicopter. Find all helicopter sounds

engines helicopter movement

chooga chooga chooga

steam engine or train. Click here for more train sounds

engine movement

CHUGGA chugga chugga CHUGGA chugga chugga CHOO CHOOOOOOO

steam engine or train. from this book:
Trans go, by Steve Light
Click here for more train sounds

machine movement

clickety-clack

sound of a train sound of a train riding on a railroad switch or joint (Song of the train by David McCord, in Noisy poems by Jill Bennett), see also clackety-clack

metal movement engine

dash

to move violently or suddenly. also lash

movement

dubdubdubdubdubdub

Sound of a helicopter. Find all helicopter sounds

engine helicopter movement

fash

sound of fended off punch with the hand. from:
Dragon Ball Z Vol 1, by Akira Toriyama

hard_hit movement

flac-flac-flac

sound of a helicopter. Find all helicopter sounds

engines helicopter movement

flap

1. a blow, 2. noise of a bird's wing in motion, 3. to strike with something flexible or broad

hard_hit animal bird movement

flick

a light sharp jerky stroke or movement

light_hit movement

flip-flop

flip-flops are a simple footwear named by sound produced when walking in them

movement human

floovb, floovb, vwomp, vwomp

sound of a bad tire of a car. Cartalk

automotive engine movement rubber

flumppf

sound of a wad of mail as it falls from a letter-box (ref)

paper movement hit

flutter

1. to flap wings rapidly, 2. to float to and fro

animal bird movement liquid

fwip fwip fwip

sound of a dog's wagging tail ( Wag! Patrick McDonnell)

animal tail movement

gwuf, gwuf, gwuf

sound of footstep ("Pedro and the padre", by Verna Aardema)

human movement

jump

to move or be moved off the ground. Possibly imitative of the sound of feet coming into contact with ground when landing

animal movement

kaaapooooom

sound of a car running over a road safety bump (ref)

car automotive movement hit

kata-kata

sound of running footsteps ("Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa", by Verna Aardema)

human movement

kish-kish

the sound of ice skates during a game of hockey (ref)

ice movement human skating sports

kreeen

sound of a small door opening. from:
Dragon Ball Z Vol 1, by Akira Toriyama

movement squeaky peep rusty hinge

Krrrrrrrr

Sound of a skateboarder skateboarding. Skateboarder doing a trick: "Krrrrrrrr, snap! (pause) Crack! Krrrrrrrr..." user Mikemega on answerbag.com

movement human sport toy

lash

1. to move violently or suddenly. also: to dash, 2. to thrash or beat violently, as in "the rain lashed at the windowpanes". More rain sounds

hard_hit movement movement weather

nnneeaoowww

sound of a propeller plane flying overhead (ref)

plane movement engine

pad

to walk with a soft dull tread

movement

piaaaak

sound of an automatic glass door opening (ref)

movement door

pip

1. to peep or chirp, as a chick does. 2. A short, high-pitched radio signal 3. pip-pip-pip: sound of footsteps ("Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa", by Verna Aardema)

animal bird movement

poof

1. interjection used to indicate a sudden vanishing: The magician waved a wand, and poof! The birds disappeared! (often with a little cloud of smoke) In this sense poof may be imitative. 2. effeminate man or male homosexual. In this sense poof is not imitative

gas air movement misc

potato-potato-potato

Sound of a poorly running motorcycle engine. The sound emphasis is on the 'p' and 't' rather than the vowels. Janet writes: "My sister used the above expression to describing a problem she had on starting a new motorcycle - it was jerking along as if it had 'kangaroo juice' in the tank. She assumed a "Gangnam Style" stance and dance to illustrate it, while saying "there I was going 'potato-potato-potato' - what a show-up!" She says that this expression is often used within her group of motorcycling friends, usually in connection with novice riders, although it may be in use more widely across the UK. The sound emphasis seems to be on the 'p' and 't' rather than the vowels." (thanks Janet!)

engine movement

rizzz

sound of an electric drill (ref)

drill engine movement mechanism buzz

rooaaarrr

sound of a car when driving fast

engine automotive movement

rump - rump

sound of a washing machine , "[Aredelia] found Starling in the warm laundry room, dozing against the slow rump-rump of a washing machine." (Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs, 1988)

machine engine movement

schhwaff

sound of a flying arrow

weapon movement

schlip

sound of a person slipping on something, e.g. wet floor ("Garfield", Jim Davis)

movement liquid water

screech

1. a high shrill piercing cry usually expressing pain or terror, 2. the high pitched sound the tires of a car make when it turns at high speed

human human pain animal engine automotive movement crack

shmm

sound of objects flying by. from:
Dragon Ball Z Vol 1, by Akira Toriyama

shuh, shuh, shuh

sound of swimming ("Borreguita and the Coyote: A Tale from Ayutla, Mexico", by Verna Aardema)

human animal movement liquid water

shuush, shuush

sound of skiing through the snow (ref)

movement snow sliding sports

slosh

1. to spill or splash (a liquid) copiously or clumsily, 2. to agitate in a liquid (eg. slosh clothes in a solution of bleach and detergent), 3. to splash, wade, or flounder in water or another liquid

movement liquid

slump

to fall or sink

movement liquid

splash

to dash water upon

movement liquid

splosh

make a splashing sound, to make a certain noise or sound, to walk through mud or mire, to cause a liquid to spatter about. also: sploosh

animal movement liquid water

splut

the sound of a pie hitting someone in the face (Garfield (Jim Davis) comic)

eat_drink movement liquid water food wet

spoot

spitting out a mouthful of liquid ("Garfield", Jim Davis)

eat_drink movement liquid water

squiggle

A short, irregular curve or twist, as in writing or drawing. Possibly a blend of squirm and wriggle

misc movement

squirm

To twist one's body with snakelike motions from shame or embarrassment, or to evade a question. Possibly imitative

human movement

ssinda, sssssinda

sound of an old dial telephone. Dialing 1 is "ssinda." Dialing 9 is "sssssinda." (ref ). More telephone sounds

movement telephone mechanism

swash

to dash violently, make a noise of clashing swords

hard_hit metal movement

swish

sound of an object moving through air or water

movement liquid gas

swoosh

Nike brand logo, but also the sound of rushing air or water

movement liquid gas

thith-thith-thith

sound of a helicopter. Find all helicopter sounds

engine helicopter movement

thwok

sound of a baseball, hitting a catcher's mitt (ref)

sports ball movement hit

thwoorp

Sound produced by quickly opening a folding fan. Urban Dictionary. Made famous by drag queen Katya Zamolodchikova

tick tock

sound of a clock. also: tic toc

light_hit movement metal

tk.tk.tk.tk.tk.tk

sound of a dog's claws as he/she walks on a wooden floor (ref)

animal movement claw hit

tlot tlot

sound of horse's hooves. used in the poem "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes.
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves, ringing clear;
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?

animal movement

tocotocotoco

sound of a helicopter. more helicopter sounds

engine helicopter movement

varoom

sound of a fast driving car or an explosion (Also the title of a Roy Lichtenstein painting. Find more explosions.

explosion engine automotive movement

viip

Sound of a moving object (Also the title of a Roy Lichtenstein painting

movement

voomp

sound of explosive impact (weapon) (features in the Roy Lichtenstein painting "O.K., Hot Shot"). Find more explosions. Find more weapon sounds.

explosion movement weapon

vreeeeeeeeeeeeeeew

Sound of a whistle of an old steam locomotive. This is a high-pitched one. A lower-pitched one might do "vroo-vroo"

air engine movement

vroo-vroo

Sound of a whistle of an old steam locomotive. This would be a low-pitched one. A high-pitched one would be more like "vreeeeeeeeeeeeeeew"

gas movement engine

vroom

sound of a car

engine automotive movement

wallop

violent noisy movement

movement

whirr

to move swiftly with a vibratory sound, eg of a small electric motor, electronic film transport in an analog photo camera.

engine movement

whoosh

a sibilant sound, or a swift movement or flow

movement

whop whop whop

sound of a helicopter. Find more helicopter sounds

engines helicopter movement

whumpa-whumpa-whumpa-whumpa

sound of a helicopter. Find more helicopter sounds

engines helicopter movement

whumpf

When the fracture of a weak snow layer causes an upper layer to collapse, making a whumpfing sound. Whumpf has been adopted as a technical avalanche term to describe the sound of a collapsing snowpack when you cross the snow. For instance, "we got a lot of whumpfing today", or "the snowpack whumpfed like rolling thunder just before it released and caught us." Avalanche Encyclopedia

Weather snow movement hit

whup-whup-whup

sound of a helicopter. Find more helicopter sounds

engines helicopter movement

wuppa wuppa

sound of a helicopter. Find more helicopter sounds

engines movement helicopter

yoink

the "sound" of someone stealing something. the word is spoken to make obvious or humorous the playful theft of an item in front of others. (e.g. "you shouldn't leave your wallet lying around like that...Yoink!". used often in the cartoon series "the Simpsons")

misc human animal movement

zing

a shrill humming sound, such as from a bullet or vibrating string. As a verb: to move very quickly, especially while making a high pitched sound. As a noun used figuratively, meaning zest, vitality, or (in cuisine) spicy flavor. In comedy, zing is sometimes used as an interjection to acknowledge a witty comeback. The witty comeback itself is then called a zinger.

misc metal movement

zip

to travel with a sharp hissing or humming sound

movement

zoom

to speed along with a low hum or buzz. also: to focus a camera on an object using a zoom lens (to 'zoom in' or 'zoom out'), also imitative of sound when motorized.

engine movement


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