bingo
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bingo¹
- /ˈbɪŋ.ɡəʊ/ UK
- /ˈbɪŋ.ɡoʊ/ US
Rhymes with -ɪŋɡəʊ
Where it comes from
Alternative form of bing, suggesting a ringing sound. Attested since 1925.
noun bingos · Bingo
-
A game of chance for two or more players, who mark off numbers on a grid as they are announced by the caller; the game is won by the first person to call out "bingo!" or "house!" after crossing off all numbers on the grid or in one line of the grid.
He plays bingo with his family on Saturdays.
Similar: housey-housey, lotto
- A similar game or amusement in which participants tick off themed words, phrases or pictures as these are called out, or as they are mentioned, for example during a speech or performance animal bingo (animal pictures), ABBA bingo (titles or lyrics of ABBA songs), buzzword bingo
- A win in such a game. There were two bingos in the last game, so the players split the prize money.
- A play where all seven of a player's letter tiles are played, awarding a score bonus.
- Great, sudden, typically hard-to-predict success; the jackpot. An explosion of gay male movies has hit the U.S. in the past few months. Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Parting Glances and My Beautiful Laundrette, among others, have not only demonstrateed that the coming out story can be surpassed, they've also shown the movie industry that substantive gay portrayals c
interjection Bingo
-
Used by players of bingo to claim a win.
Similar: house!
-
Used when finding what one has been looking for or trying to recall, or on successful completion of a task.
‘Some big, hard-boiled egg meets up with a pretty face, and bingo! He cracks up and melts.’
Similar: aha!, eureka!, got it!, that's it!, yes!
- Used to enthusiastically confirm or validate another speaker's point.
adjective Bingo
- Just sufficient to return to base (or, alternatively, to divert to an alternative airfield). (also written Bingo or BINGO) Well, the old pucker factor went up about 75 notches at that point cause that length of time would put my wingman below Bingo fuel, plus the thought of sitting in an orbit several miles West of the Yen Bai […]
verb bingos · bingoing · bingoed · Bingo
- To play the game of bingo.
- To give the winning cry of "bingo!" in a game.
- To play all of one's seven tiles in one move in the game of Scrabble, earning a score bonus. With IN on the board, he bingoed with OPERATING for 74 points, while Ann added the CO in front of it for 30 points.
- To return to base.
bingo²
Where it comes from
Perhaps related to stingo.
noun
- Brandy.
Bingo³
proper noun
- A male given name. Bingo! Bingo! Where is the rascal, I wonder. […] ENTER Bingo, r. 2, with glass of cream, […]
- Alternative letter-case form of bingo (“game of chance”). We like playing Bingo, which is good because Beth is in special ed classes in school now, and they’re teaching her letters and numbers, and Mommy tries to help her by playing Bingo.
interjection
- Alternative letter-case form of bingo The discovery of this woman’s body suddenly threw a complex of apparently unrelated incidents into an integrated whole. You grind away at routine, you collect a vast amount of data ninety-per-cent of which is useless and then—some thing happens and Bingo—the other ten-per-cent sits up like Jacky and
BINGO⁴
interjection
- Alternative letter-case form of bingo
adjective
- Alternative letter-case form of bingo (“just sufficient to return to base”).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: keno, lotto, beano, yahtzee, lottery, jackpot, stakes, billiard, bowling, touchdown, hop, bullseye, bravo, bank, theatrical, boom
Translations
Talk about this word "bingo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bingo. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bingo. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bingo "bingo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bingo.Cite this
@misc{bingo_2026,
title = {bingo},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bingo},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
