boom
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boom¹
- /buːm/ UK, Wales
- /bʉwm/ British, Southern, Standard
- /bum/ US
- /bʉːm/ Australia, New Zealand
- /bʉm/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
Rhymes with -uːm
Where it comes from
Onomatopoeic, perhaps borrowed; compare German bummen, Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”). The sense "a period of economic growth" is generally taken to derive from the sense "a rapid expansion", although other origins have also been suggested.
verb booms · booming · boomed
- To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound. Thunder boomed in the distance and lightning flashes lit up the horizon.
- To exclaim with force, to shout, to thunder. I was about to reach for the marmalade, when I heard the telephone tootling out in the hall and rose to attend to it. “Bertram Wooster's residence,” I said, having connected with the instrument. “Wooster in person at this end. Oh hullo,” I added, for the voice that boomed over the wire was that of M
- To flourish, grow, or progress. The population boomed in recent years.
- To make (something) boom. Men in grey robes slowly boom the drums of death.
- To make a deep, resonant, territorial vocalisation. Miles on miles of quagmire, varied only by bright green strips of comparatively solid ground, and by deep and sullen pools fringed with tall rushes, in which the bitterns boomed and the frogs croaked incessantly[.]
- To cause a sonic boom.
- To subject (someone or something) to a sonic boom.
- To publicly praise, to rally behind. If you pull this off every paper in England and America will be booming you.
- To rush forwards with such violent intensity that it generates a sustained, overwhelming, roaring noise; especially from the perspective of a bystander who has been suddenly subjected to it. The train boomed through the station without stopping.
-
To rapidly adjust the evaluation of a position away from zero, indicating a likely win or loss.
It can get fast enough that it's hard to see what flashed on your screen though, so it would be nice if chess engines had a feature of persistently showing you what move they planned to play before they boomed, even if it took less than a second for them to figure it out.
Opposite: moob
- To cause to advance rapidly in price. to boom railroad or mining shares
noun booms
- A low-pitched, resonant sound, such as of an explosion. the boom of the surf
- A rapid expansion or increase. You should prepare for the coming boom in the tech industry.
-
A period of prosperity, growth, progress, or high market activity.
Opposite: depression, recession
- Ellipsis of sonic boom
- One of the calls of certain monkeys or birds. Interestingly, the blue monkey's boom and pyow calls are both long-distance signals (Brown, 1989), yet the two calls differ in respect to their susceptibility to habitat-induced degradation.
-
An instance of booming.
Some chess commentators know to excitedly point out when booms happen but they almost universally are missing out on the next step of explaining what the boom meant.
Opposite: moob
interjection
- Used to suggest the sound of an explosion. crash boom bang
- Used to suggest something happening suddenly or unexpectedly; voilà. Add one cup of hot water, wait a minute, and boom — your cup of ramen is ready.
- The sound of a bass drum beating.
- The sound of a cannon firing.
boom²
- /buːm/ UK, Wales
- /bʉwm/ British, Southern, Standard
- /bum/ US
- /bʉːm/ Australia, New Zealand
- /bʉm/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
Rhymes with -uːm
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Dutch boom (“tree; pole”). Doublet of beam.
noun booms
- A spar extending the foot of a sail; a spar rigged outboard from a ship's side to which boats are secured in harbour. Tighten the outhaul and place the appropriate line in the cam cleat located on the boom about two feet back from the mast.
- A specially-designed, movable pole, used to suspend a microphone or camera high above the ground during filming or recording.
- Ellipsis of boom microphone (a microphone supported on such a pole).
- A deployable structure on spacecraft used for mounting solar panels, radiators, antennae, instruments, etc.
- A horizontal member of a crane or derrick, used for lifting.
- The longest element of a Yagi-Uda antenna, on which the other, smaller antennae are transversally mounted.
- A boom barrier; a lowerable bar used to block vehicle access.
-
A floating barrier used to obstruct navigation on water, for military or other purposes; or used for the containment of an oil spill or to control the flow of logs from logging operations.
I went out on the timber boom and made a few casts, but with little success.
Similar: chain, chain boom
- A gymnastics apparatus, similar to a balance beam, which must be traversed as part of an obstacle course, typically as a training exercise in school or as part of basic training for new military recruits. The wooden upright was now standing in the middle of the floor, and the two booms were fitted into its grooved side and hoisted as high as hands could reach. [...] Two by two, one at each end, the students proceeded along the boom, hanging by their hands, monkey-wise. [...] Two by two the students s
- A wishbone-shaped piece of windsurfing equipment.
- The section of the arm on a backhoe closest to the tractor.
verb booms · booming · boomed
- To extend, or push, with a boom or pole. to boom out a sail
- To raise or lower with a crane boom.
Boom³
- /boʊm/
Rhymes with -oʊm
proper noun
- A Belgian town and municipality in the southwest of the Flemish province of Antwerp.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: smash, din, roar, roaring, expand, get ahead, flourish, thrive, blast, thunder, prosper, goldmine, bonanza, nail, boom out, microphone boom
Translations
Every language
verb to make a loud, resonant sound
| Português | estrondear, ribombar |
|---|---|
| Русский | рокота́ть rokotátʹ, грохота́ть groxotátʹ, громыха́ть gromyxátʹ, гуде́ть gudétʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | nổ bùm, nổ đùng |
verb to make something boom
| Русский | грохнуть groxnutʹ, грохнул groxnul, бахать baxatʹ, бабахать babaxatʹ |
|---|
verb to be prosperous
| 中文 | 繁荣 fánróng |
|---|---|
| Português | florescer, prosperar |
| Français | prospérer |
| Deutsch | blühen, florieren, boomen |
| Русский | процвета́ть procvetátʹ |
noun abrupt, low-pitched sound
| Español | bum |
|---|---|
| Português | estrondo |
| Français | boum |
| Deutsch | Dröhnen |
| Română | bubuit, detunătură |
| Русский | гул gul, ро́кот rókot |
| עברית | בּוּם bum |
noun period of prosperity
| Español | boom, bonanza, auge |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 붐 bum |
| 日本語 | ブーム būmu |
| 中文 | 景氣繁榮 /景气繁荣 jǐngqì fánróng, 景氣 /景气 jǐngqì, 繁榮 /繁荣 fánróng |
| Português | boom |
| Français | boom |
| Deutsch | Aufschwung, Boom |
| Română | avânt, prosperitate |
| Русский | бум bum, расцве́т rascvét, подъём podʺjóm |
intj sound of explosion
| Español | bum, pum, pun, plum |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 펑 peong, 쾅 kwang |
| 中文 | 砰 pēng, 嘭 pēng |
| हिन्दी | बूम būm |
| Português | bum |
| Français | boum |
| Deutsch | Bumm |
| Ελληνικά | μπαμ bam, μπουμ boum |
| Română | bum |
| Русский | бах bax, бух bux, бац bac, бабах babax |
| Tiếng Việt | bùm, đùng |
noun spar extending the foot of a sail
| Português | retranca |
|---|---|
| Français | bôme |
| Deutsch | Baum |
| Italiano | boma |
| עברית | מָנוֹר manor |
noun horizontal member of a crane
| Português | lança |
|---|---|
| Français | mat, hausse |
| Deutsch | Ausleger |
| Русский | стрела́ strelá |
noun floating barrier
| Русский | бон bon |
|---|
noun gymnastics balance beam used in an obstacle course
| Русский | брус brus |
|---|
Talk about this word "boom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/boom. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. boom. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/boom "boom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/boom.
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@misc{boom_2026,
title = {boom},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/boom},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
