wham

English

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wham

/wæm/ UK
/wæm/ US
/hwæm/ US

Rhymes with -æm

Where it comes from

Onomatopoeic, representing the sound of an object being slammed against something.

noun whams

A forceful blow. Roger was given a violent wham by his boxing opponent.
The sound of such a blow; a thud. We heard a wham as the hammer struck the wall.
figuratively An attempt.
figuratively A great success.

interjection

Used to indicate the sound of a forceful blow, an explosion, etc. Wham! The truck hit the wall.
Used to indicate something dramatic, sudden, and unanticipated has occurred. Our relationship was going smoothly and then wham! Out of nowhere he told me he was leaving me for another woman.

verb whams · whamming · whammed

informal, transitive To smash or strike (someone or something) with great force or impact; to slam, to whack. My Wobblie worker buddies taught me to wham anybody who bothered me hard and fast in the crotch with my knee or my elbow.
informal, transitive To propel (something) with great force by kicking, striking, throwing, etc. Though you may never have heard of Wham-O before, you doubtless are already acquainted with Super Ball, their latest sensation. It's about the size of a handball, and has such extraordinary bounce that it makes every other ball seem tired. […] Kids from seven to 70 can be seen dribbling it or whammi
informal, intransitive To smash or strike with great force or impact. She takes her foot off the skateboard. It keeps going without her and whams into the garage door.
informal, intransitive To move quickly or loudly.

Translations

Every language

intj used to indicate the sound of a forceful blow, etc.

Deutsch	wumm, bum

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MLA

"wham." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wham. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wham. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wham

Chicago

"wham." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wham.

BibTeX

@misc{wham_2026,
  title = {wham},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wham},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}