ping

views updated May 18 2018

ping / ping/ • n. 1. a short high-pitched ringing sound, as of a tap on a crystal glass: the syncopated ping of steel drums. ∎ a percussive knocking sound, esp. in an internal combustion engine: if any sign of engine ping occurs.2. Packet Internet Gopher, a utility which is used to query another computer on a TCP/IP network in order to determine whether there is a connection to it.• v. [intr.] 1. make such a sound. ∎ [tr.] cause (something) to make a such a sound.2. to query another computer on a TCP/IP network to determine whether there is a connection to it.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

ping

views updated Jun 27 2018

ping A short message that an application sends from one system on a network to another (or, as a verb, to send such a message), primarily to establish whether the receiver is active, or the network linking sender and receiver is operational. A system receiving a ping will typically respond by immediately retransmitting the incoming message back to the original sender. (The word ping may be an acronym for packet Internet gopher or possibly imitative in origin.)

A Dictionary of Computing JOHN DAINTITH

Ping

views updated Jun 11 2018

Ping (pɪŋ) Computing Packet Internet groper

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH