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

ahahah

aristocratic sounding laughter, or kind of a hick laugh

laughter

blop

sound a large serving of mashed potatoes makes when it hits the plate (also a corresponding measurement of same) (ref)

food hit spoon

borborygmus

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

eat_drink animal gas

chiming

the sound of wedding bells (features in the poem "The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe)

metal music

chough

genus Pyrrhocorax of birds in the Corvidae (crow) family. now universally pronounced 'chuff'. However it probably originally rhymed with "how", as 'chow' is a reasonable representation of its call (according to this website). link1 (white-winged chough), link2 (red-billed chough)

animal bird

clack

1. chatter, prattle 2. to make an abrupt striking sound or series of sounds, such as footsteps 3. cry of a bird , especially fowl. see also: cackle, cluck 4. Sound of a late 19th century gun being closed after loading, according to a reply to a yahoo!Answers post about the sound of old guns

animal bird weapon metal

clackety-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). also: clickety-clack

metal engine

clap

a sharp, forcible or resounding noise

hard_hit

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

cltkty

sound of a coin put into a vending machine (from the graphic novel "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth", ref)

metal

cluck

1. bird : the peculiar sound of a brooding hen 2. To make a clicking sound with the tongue

animal bird

ding

sound of metal when struck

hard_hit metal

ding-dong

tolling of a bell

metal

dirnt

Sound of a bass-guitar. From: Mike Dirnt, the bassist of the rock band Green Day. Dirnt's birth name is Michael Ryan Pritchard. According to Wikipedia, at school, he would would often play "air-bass", pretending to pluck the strings, while making the noise, "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt". As a result, his schoolmates began to call him "Mike Dirnt". See also Yahoo Answers. Related: wub wub, wob wob and other sounds of bass in dubstep music.

fart

(possibly of imitative origin, but debatable) English language vulgarism most commonly used in reference to flatulence. Onomatopoeia for farts have been suggested in various internet forums in response to questions of people who needed a word to describe the sound: eg. here and here. The suggested words include brrt, braaah, THPPTPHTPHPHHPH (Calvin and Hobbes), phhhhhhrt, PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP, pff, prtrtrtrgurtrufnasutututut, prrrt, PFFT!, PHHhhhh..., SPLPLPLLLP, WHOooooffff, poot, prrrrrrrvt, scraeft, ppppppwwarrrrppppp, pllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooaaa..., RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPP, fuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrt, thhhppbbbb, verrrrrrrrrnnnnnntttttt, hooooooooooooooooooooooooonk, pbpbpbpbp, frr frr frrrrrr rampooooooooo ag, pppppppptttttttttttttttttttttttt, flurpppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp... Also, according to many responders it depends on the fart (farting can make many possible sounds).

human gas

flush

to flood or spray thoroughly with water or other liquid, as for cleansing purposes. flush can have many meanings but in the sense of flooding with liquid it can be seen as imitative

liquid rinse

gibberish

1. gibberish is rapid, inarticulate, often foolish sounding speech, 2. according to this wikipedia entry, it is also a verb for the sound made by apes/monkeys (as in "dogs bark, monkeys gibber")

human animal

ha ha

laughter. most common form. intensity grows by adding ha's. absence of an exclamation mark can be a hint of sarcasm, or indicate a polite, but unenthusiastic laugh. dependent on context, tone, facial expression, etc. Also: haha

laughter

howler monkey

Howler monkeys are widely considered to be the loudest land animal. The main vocals consist of loud, deep guttural growls or "howls". Their vocalizations can be heard from 3 miles (4.8 km) away. It is hypothesized that the function of howling relates to intergroup spacing and territory protection, as well as possibly mate-guarding. more

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

klunk

sound of heavy metallic objects colliding

hard_hit

knock-knock

sound of striking with a sounding blow. As in knocking on a door

hard_hit

kookaburra

The kookaburra is a genus of birds native to australia whose name is imitative of its call. The call sounds a bit like hysterical human laughter, or maniacal cackling, depending on the species. more info, video

animal bird laughter

Krrrrrrrr

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

movement human sport toy

lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub ...

Sound of a beating heart. This seems the most common spelling, used in medical texts. Also: dup-dup; ba bum; plop-plop; thud-thud; pop-pop; Sometimes the heart is said to throb and throb is also thought to have imitative origin. (Yahoo Answers, 1, 2)

human disease pounding pump heartbeat

mrrrrgggggllll

sound made by murlocs (creatures in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. also: mrclughluhlua, maagluuuuughhhhhh, mrglmrglmrglmrgl, aurrrrrrrrruuuuggguglugglugglugluguaa (according to players)

animal

mwahaha

laughter, this is usually an evil sounding laugh. also: muahaha, muhaha

northern flicker

bird species name (Colaptes auratus). medium-sized member of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, is one of the few woodpecker species that migrates, and is the only woodpecker that commonly feeds on the ground. The song of the Northern Flicker is a loud wick wick wick wick or (according to some sources) a squeaky flick-a, flick-a as in its name. about this bird

animal bird

oomph

1. strength, power (you need to put more oomph in your story) 2. sex appeal 3. a low pitched grunting or thudding sound (Oomph! grunted the boxer when punched in the gut).

human conversation power hit

plump

heavy sound of landing

hard_hit

poomb

Sound of an old pistol firing, according to a post on Yahoo!Answers

weapon metal explosion

puh-puh-puh

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

hard_hit

raspberry

short for raspberry tart, rhyming slang for fart: a sound of contempt made by protruding the tongue between the lips and expelling air forcibly to produce a vibration; broadly : an expression of disapproval or contempt. Also "rasp", "razz" or "Bronx cheer". As in "blowing a raspberry", "making a Bronx cheer". Ref: thesneeze , wikipedia.

human gas crack

schlik

sound of sliding metal on metal. verb: The metal rings schliked along the rod as I slid the curtain open to peer into the room. (thank you Larry!)

scream

to utter a shrill piercing cry. note: the vocalization of eagles is often called screaming, although according to this wikipedia article, Bald Eagles normally squeak and have a shrill cry, punctuated by grunts, and the scream that is found in films this is usually the call of a Red-tailed Hawk, dubbed into films for dramatic effect.

human animal

shush

command to be quiet, often paired with holding the index finger vertically against the lips

gas

shuush, shuush

sound of skiing through the snow (ref)

movement snow sliding sports

sora

(Porzana carolina) A small, secretive bird of freshwater marshes, the Sora is the most common and widely distributed rail in North America. voice: Call is a long, high descending whinny. Also a two-noted "sor-AH" call, with second note higher. about this bird

animal bird

splat

landing with a smacking sound

hard_hit

spoing

sound of a piano landing on someone's head ("Garfield", Jim Davis)

hard_hit

stup

sound of landing (after a jump). also: tup. from:
Dragon Ball Z Vol 1, by Akira Toriyama

hard_hit

thwoorp

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

tup

sound of landing (after a jump). from:
Dragon Ball Z Vol 1, by Akira Toriyama

hard_hit light_hit

veery

(Catharus fuscescens) bird species belonging to the larger group of thrushes. voice: Song a resonating, ethereal "da-vee-ur, vee-ur, veer, veer," descending slightly in pitch. Call note is a nasal "phew" or "veer" about this bird

animal bird

whump

the sound of colliding bodies, a slamming sound, or the sound of a punch to the jaw. Find more hit/ punch words

hard_hit

wlu-wlu-wlu-wlu-wlu-wlu-wlu

A sound recording played backward. ref

ZOOOSH ZOOOSH ZOOOOOOOSH ding ding ding

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

locomotive antique old engine


Search tips:

- Fewer searchterms (eg. cat will yield more results than cat sounds)

- Try synonyms (eg. if saber does not give you results, try sword, cutlass or blade)

- Truncate (eg. walk will give more results than walking because it returns everything that has walk in it including walked and walks)