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List of onomatopoeias

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This is a list of onomatopoeias, i.e. words that imitate, resemble, or suggest the source of the sound that they describe. For more information, see the linked articles.

Human vocal sounds

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  • Achoo, Atishoo, the sound of a sneeze
  • Ahem, a sound made to clear the throat or to draw attention before speaking
  • Burp, the sound of gas being expelled
  • Chomp, the sound of someone biting down on food
  • Cough, the sound made when clearing the throat or lungs
  • Hiccup, a repeated, involuntary sound caused by a spasm of the diaphragm
  • Hum, a low, continuous sound
  • Slurp, the sound of someone drinking or eating
  • Yawn, the sound someone makes when they're tired or bored
  • Ow, Ouch, a short sound made when someone is in pain

Sounds made by devices or other objects

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Things named after sounds

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  • Choo Choo, childish word for a train, after the sound of a steam locomotive
  • Flip-flops, a type of sandal
  • Khilkhilat, a type of ambulance in Gujarat for transporting newborn babies, meaning "Giggles"
  • Tuk-tuk, word for an auto rickshaw in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America
  • Tweeter, a high frequency loudspeaker named after a bird's shrill tweet
  • Woofer, a low frequency loudspeaker named after a dog's low bark

Animal and bird names

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Animal and bird noises

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For sounds listed by the name of the animal, see List of animal sounds.

English words for animal noises include:

  • Baa: vocalization of sheep; "Baa, baa, black sheep"
  • Bark, sound of a dog
  • Bleat, sound of a sheep
  • Buzz, sound of bees or insects flying
  • Chirp, bird call
  • Chirp, sound made by rubbing together feet or other body parts, e.g. by a cricket or a cicada
  • Gobble, a turkey call
  • Growl, low, guttural vocalization produced by predatory animals
  • Hiss, sound made by a snake
  • Honk, call of the male Canada goose
  • Hoot, call of an owl
  • Howl, sound made by canines, especially wolves
  • Meow, cry of a cat
  • Moo, sound of a cow
  • Purr, a tonal, fluttering sound made by all members of the cat family
  • Quack, call of a duck
  • Ribbit, sound of some Pacific tree frogs or bullfrogs
  • Roar, deep, bellowing outburst made by various animals
  • Screech, high-pitched strident or piercing sound, as made by a screech owl
  • Tweet, sound of a bird
  • Woof, sound of a dog

Music groups or terms

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  • Bebop, a style of jazz
  • Boom bap, a subgenre and production style of hip hop named after the sounds used for the bass and snare drums
  • Djent, a style of progressive metal named after the sound of a palm-muted guitar
  • Donk, a style of UK house music containing distinctive percussion sounds
  • Doof doof, Australian slang term describes electronic music heard at raves
  • Kecak, part of a musical drama, is named after monkey chatter, and "chak" is also the sound of a struck bar percussion instrument as in a gamelan
  • Oom-pah, brass instruments, also Humppa
  • Ratatat, a New York City experimental electronic rock duo
  • Ska, a style of music characterised by a walking bass line
  • Wah-wah, the sound of altering the resonance of musical notes to extend expressiveness

Works, groups and characters named after sounds

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Sounds in fiction

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  • Bamf, the sound Nightcrawler makes when teleporting
  • Biff, Pow, Wham, Bam, Zap etc, used to represent punching an enemy in silver age superhero comic books, popularized by the 1966 Batman TV Series
  • Budda Budda Budda, commonly used in Marvel and DC comics to represent machine gun fire
  • Krakoom and Thoom, respectively the sound of thunder summoned by Thor's hammer Mjolnir and when the hammer physically hits a target
  • Pew-pew or pew-pew-pew, the sound of a laser gun in science fiction[3]
  • Shrrm, the sound of a lightsaber being ignited
  • Snikt, the sound of Wolverine's claws being extended
  • Thwip, the sound that Spider-Man's web shooters make
  • Vwoop, the sound of an Enderman from Minecraft teleporting
  • Vworp, the sound the TARDIS makes when it materializes

See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coqu%C3%AD#Spanish [bare URL]
  2. ^ "Spring peeper". 6 January 2024.
  3. ^ "pew pew". Lexico. Oxford Dictionary. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2020.