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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aaugh

Exclaimation of dismay, commonly used, and originaly created by the Peanuts gang by Charles Schulz. Used frequently by Charlie Brown in the following situations: Losing a Baseball game, Having the football pulled away by Lucy, In an embarrassing situation. Also used by other members of the peanuts gang and can be used as a roaring sound to scare someone. 1) Linus: I told her about how you're madly in love with her, Charlie Brown: Aaugh!! 2) Snoopy: It's not the things that go 'bump' in the night that scare me. It's the things that go 'AAUGH!'. Urban dictionary

dismay pain embarrassment comics

bomb

hollow, explosive projectile, imitative origin

explosion

boom

1. deep, hollow sound, explosion. Find more explosion words 2. verb for the sound produced by the (male) bittern, a bird species, to attract the females and establish their territory. each male has a unique voice. the boom of the male bittern is the lowest-pitched and the most far-carrying song produced by any European bird. it is written as "oonk-a-lunk" or "punk-er-lunk" and can be heard up to 5 km away in the right weather conditions. about this bird

explosion animal bird

bounce

A heavy blow. Possibly of imitative origin. Etymonline

buffet

(possibly of imitative origin) blow. Find more hit / punch words

hard_hit

buffoon

(possibly of imitative origin) clown, may stem from allusion to puffing out cheeks as a comic gesture

gas misc

bumblebee

A bumblebee (also spelled as bumble bee) is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. They are characterized by are characterised by black and yellow body hairs, often in bands. Etymonline: 1520s, replacing M.E. humbul-be, alt. by assoc. with M.E. bombeln "to boom, buzz," echoic, from PIE base *kem "to hum," echoic.

bump

heavy dull blow, or its result (a swelling). Find more hit / punch words

hard_hit

burble

to form bubbles, flow with bubbling sound

liquid water

bwwob bwwwobbubwub

Sound of a car engine low on coolant Cartalk

automotive engine

clash

loud sound of collision followed by a confusion of lesser sounds

hard_hit

croon

1. To hum or sing softly. 2. To sing popular songs in a soft, sentimental manner. 3. (Scottish) To roar or bellow. Possibly of imitative origin. Originally "to bellow like a bull" as well as "to utter a low, murmuring sound" Etymonline

human music animal

dickcissel

name of bird species (Spiza americana). small American seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. voice: From an open perch in a field, this bird's song is a sharp "dick dick" followed by a buzzed "cissel", also transcribed as "skee-dlees chis chis chis" or "dick dick ciss ciss ciss". about this bird

animal bird

eastern whipbird

(Psophodes olivaceus) bird species found in eastern Australia. The Whipbirds' long "whip" call, one of the most characteristic sounds of the Australian bush, is performed as a duet. The male makes the drawn out whip crack and the female usually follows quickly with a sharp "choo-choo". about this bird

animal bird

Ffffffffffffff

1. blowing on hot soup 2. flatulence (fart) 3. air running out of a tire

gas air eat_drink automotive food

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

glug

sound of swallowing a drink

human eat_drink

gray-winged trumpeter

(Psophia crepitans) bird species found in South America, whose song is a low humming, but its call, as its name suggests, is a very loud JEEK or honking TZAAK, which may be the reason for the name "trumpeter". This bird is kept as a pet by Amerindians, since it is easily tamed, hunts snakes, and is a very efficient sentinel, with its unmissable alarm call. about this bird

animal bird

growl

a low, guttural, menacing sound made by an animal, such as a bear

animal

gulp

to swallow greedily or rapidly in large amounts. e.g. "she gulps down a whole mug of coffee".

human eat_drink

gurgle

to flow in a broken irregular current, make the sound of bubbling liquid, washing the mouth with suspended liquid (soundclip), also: gargle

liquid water

hrrooonnh

this is one of several suggestions in response to the question of how to write the sound of a bull, on wiki-answers. also: muuhhhrrr, rrrruuuurrrr, moo, low, huuuooohar. if you need a verb: bulls "bellow" (not directly imitative)

animal

huff

sound of exhaling, blowing, puffing

animal gas

hum

1. to make a low inarticulate murmuring sound, sometimes making a melody "to hum a tune", 2. a verb for the sound that bees and hummingbirds make (eg. "the dog barks, the bee hums"), also: buzz

animal music

huuuooohar

this is one of several suggestions in response to the question of how to write the sound of a bull, on wiki-answers. also: rrrruuuurrrr, moo, low, hrrooonnh, muuhhhrrr. if you need a verb: bulls "bellow" (not directly imitative)

animal

knack

sharp blow or sound

hard_hit

knock-knock

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

hard_hit

low

cattle vocalization

animal

marauder

to rove or pillage for spoils. This word may be of imitative origin, imitating the vocalization of a tomcat. More cat sounds

animal human destroy plunder

moan

1. long low inarticulate murmur, 2. (less common) word describing the sound of doves (as in "The moan of doves in immemorial elms" in the poem "Come Down, O Maid" by Alfred Lord Tennyson), 3. (less common) the sound of wind (in the poem "the night wind", by Eugene Field: "... For the wind will moan in its ruefullest tone:

human human pain disease weather

muuhhhrrr

this is one of several suggestions in response to the question of how to write the sound of a bull, on wiki-answers. also: rrrruuuurrrr, moo, low, hrrooonnh, huuuooohar. if you need a verb: bulls "bellow" (not directly imitative)

animal

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

owl

Nocturnal bird of prey. The name is thought to have imitative origins, imitating the owl's vocalizations. Wikipedia

bird animal hoo

pied currawong

(Strepera graculina) large, mostly black bird, with a bright yellow eye, found in Australasia. voice: The main call is a loud "currawong", which gives the bird its name. Other frequent sounds include deep croaks and a wolf whistle about this bird

animal bird

pooof

Chewing gum bubble popping. from:
Dinosaur King Vol 1, by Yohei Sakai

food blow

poop

Children's euphemism meaning excrement. This word is thought to be of imitative origin

human animal

pow

sound of a blow / collision

hard_hit

psst

sound uttered to get a person's attention without alerting others, to tell a secret for example. often followed by whispering

human

rap

to strike, esp. with a quick, smart, or light blow

hard_hit light_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

rrrruuuurrrr

this is one of several suggestions in response to the question of how to write the sound of a bull, on wiki-answers. also: moo, low, hrrooonnh, huuuooohar, muuhhhrrr. if you need a verb: bulls "bellow" (not directly imitative)

animal

rumble

to make a low heavy continuous sound

misc crack

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

slap

smart blow as with the open hand. Find more hit/ punch words

hard_hit

thung

sound of a blow to a metal object (features in a Roy Lichtenstein painting

hard_hit metal

toot

to blow or sound an instrument (as a horn)

music

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

wap

hit/blow. Find more hit/ punch words

hard_hit

wham

a heavy blow. Find more hit/ punch words

hard_hit

whap

1. to throw one's self quickly, or by an abrupt motion; to turn suddenly; (eg. she whapped down on the floor; the fish whapped over), 2. to beat or strike, 3. a blow, or quick, smart stroke. Find more hit/ punch words

hard_hit

whine

to utter a low somewhat shrill protracted sound

human

whinny

horse vocalization, to neigh especially in a low or gentle way

animal

whoa

1. command to stop (horse) 2. command to slow an action or thought, often used to express alarm or astonishment

human animal

whoosh

a sibilant sound, or a swift movement or flow

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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