Bam
noun
A loud, sudden, surprise sound or impact.
In the quiet room, there was a sudden 'bam' when the book fell from the shelf.
Often appears as...
- bam of the door
- bam of the gun
adverb
Used to describe the occurrence of something with sudden impact or effect.
And then bam! The lights went out.
Often appears as...
- and bam
- just like bam
Usage tips
Colloquial
exclamation
Used to suggest the sound of a big bang or a big impact.
Bam! The ball hit the wall.
Often appears as...
- bam goes the
- with a bam
noun
A loud, sudden, surprise sound or impact.
In the quiet room, there was a sudden 'bam' when the book fell from the shelf.
Often appears as...
- bam of the door
- bam of the gun
adverb
Used to describe the occurrence of something with sudden impact or effect.
And then bam! The lights went out.
Often appears as...
- and bam
- just like bam
Usage tips
Colloquial
exclamation
Used to suggest the sound of a big bang or a big impact.
Bam! The ball hit the wall.
Often appears as...
- bam goes the
- with a bam
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Sudden Occurrence
Indicates an unexpected event, usually causing surprise or alarm.
Everything was calm until bam, the fireworks started.
Pro Tip 2/3Onomatopoeia
Mimics the sound of the event it describes, enhancing the listener's experience.
The vase hit the ground with a bam, startling everyone.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Literal
Doesn't always correspond to an actual sound, can describe an impactful event.
He won the game, and bam, he became famous overnight.
Pro Tip 1/3Sudden Occurrence
Indicates an unexpected event, usually causing surprise or alarm.
Everything was calm until bam, the fireworks started.
Pro Tip 2/3Onomatopoeia
Mimics the sound of the event it describes, enhancing the listener's experience.
The vase hit the ground with a bam, startling everyone.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Literal
Doesn't always correspond to an actual sound, can describe an impactful event.
He won the game, and bam, he became famous overnight.
Pro Tip 1/3Sudden Occurrence
Indicates an unexpected event, usually causing surprise or alarm.
Everything was calm until bam, the fireworks started.
Pro Tip 2/3Onomatopoeia
Mimics the sound of the event it describes, enhancing the listener's experience.
The vase hit the ground with a bam, startling everyone.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Literal
Doesn't always correspond to an actual sound, can describe an impactful event.
He won the game, and bam, he became famous overnight.
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Video examples
Confessions of a...
bam! Dotted line -- millions of dollars started to flow. That was the missing piece!" No one's ever said that, right? There's actually physical manifestations that we probably see in ourselves by being micromanaged. Think about the most tired you've ever been in your life, right? It probably wasn't when you stayed the latest at work,
Video examples
RNAi: Slicing, dicing...
and bam! No more protein expression. You can even get creative and target that effect to certain systems, knocking down genes in just the brain, or just the liver, or just the heart. Figuring out what happens when you knock down a gene in a certain system can be an important step
Video examples
An artist's unflinching...
have been targeted and harassed at gunpoint by the police. I created this body of work simply entitled "BAM." It was important to erase the identity of each of these figures, to make them all look the same and easier to disregard. To do this, I dip them in a thick, brown wax
Video examples
The history of our world...
gazillion times and that's where we are and then suddenly BAM a universe appears and the entire universe and we've crossed our first threshold the universe is tiny it's smaller than an atom it's incredibly hot it contains everything that's in today's
Video examples
Uncovering Jupiter's...
measuring the heat of the planet, and every now and then we get a spike – bam! It became very clear very soon that this was radio signals from the lightning in Jupiter's atmosphere, maybe a thousand times brighter than the lightning on Earth.
Video examples
Diver Encounters Deadly,...
female leopard seal going across the screen and bam disappeared i back myself up to the cliff this is the first time i've ever been in the water with with a leopard seal and in the green haze of the plankton bloom i'm suddenly
Video examples
Exploring Rodeo,...
Photos are imbued with a lot, and they're shaped and determined by where the photographer stands and the moment that the photographer chooses. And that's a lot of responsibility, because as a photographer, you choose, bam!
Video examples
The history of our world...
protons start to fuse, there's a huge release of energy, and -- bam! We have our first stars. From about 200 million years after the Big Bang, stars begin to appear all through the universe, billions of them.
Video examples
Three ideas. Three...
The first two ideas on that list create a pattern, and that pattern creates expectation. And then the third thing -- bam! -- Kayak. What? That's the rule of three. One, two, surprise! Ha ha.
Video examples
Tyler DeWitt: Hey...
So now we have a whole extended bacteria family, filled with virus sleeper cells. They're just happily living together until a signal happens and bam! -- all of the DNA pops out.
Video examples
Confessions of a...
bam! Dotted line -- millions of dollars started to flow. That was the missing piece!" No one's ever said that, right? There's actually physical manifestations that we probably see in ourselves by being micromanaged. Think about the most tired you've ever been in your life, right? It probably wasn't when you stayed the latest at work,
Video examples
RNAi: Slicing, dicing...
and bam! No more protein expression. You can even get creative and target that effect to certain systems, knocking down genes in just the brain, or just the liver, or just the heart. Figuring out what happens when you knock down a gene in a certain system can be an important step
Video examples
An artist's unflinching...
have been targeted and harassed at gunpoint by the police. I created this body of work simply entitled "BAM." It was important to erase the identity of each of these figures, to make them all look the same and easier to disregard. To do this, I dip them in a thick, brown wax
Video examples
The history of our world...
gazillion times and that's where we are and then suddenly BAM a universe appears and the entire universe and we've crossed our first threshold the universe is tiny it's smaller than an atom it's incredibly hot it contains everything that's in today's
Video examples
Uncovering Jupiter's...
measuring the heat of the planet, and every now and then we get a spike – bam! It became very clear very soon that this was radio signals from the lightning in Jupiter's atmosphere, maybe a thousand times brighter than the lightning on Earth.
Video examples
Diver Encounters Deadly,...
female leopard seal going across the screen and bam disappeared i back myself up to the cliff this is the first time i've ever been in the water with with a leopard seal and in the green haze of the plankton bloom i'm suddenly
Video examples
Exploring Rodeo,...
Photos are imbued with a lot, and they're shaped and determined by where the photographer stands and the moment that the photographer chooses. And that's a lot of responsibility, because as a photographer, you choose, bam!
Video examples
The history of our world...
protons start to fuse, there's a huge release of energy, and -- bam! We have our first stars. From about 200 million years after the Big Bang, stars begin to appear all through the universe, billions of them.
Video examples
Three ideas. Three...
The first two ideas on that list create a pattern, and that pattern creates expectation. And then the third thing -- bam! -- Kayak. What? That's the rule of three. One, two, surprise! Ha ha.
Video examples
Tyler DeWitt: Hey...
So now we have a whole extended bacteria family, filled with virus sleeper cells. They're just happily living together until a signal happens and bam! -- all of the DNA pops out.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Douglas Coupland
Canadian Author
I think half the people who get married now have met online. If I think about all the people in my life who married - they met online, online, online. And it makes sense if you think about it, because you fill out this form of 35 things that really define you and - bam - look, you've got two people who match. It works.
Quote examples
Alex Smith
American Athlete
It's one thing as a quarterback to sit there and warm up. And there's one thing to throw routes. And there's another thing when you drop back in the pocket and, when a guy comes open, to really be able to urgently - bam - all of a sudden. That guy's open; your body has to do what your mind's telling you.
Quote examples
George Strait
American Musician
I don't mind traveling that much when I can go somewhere and stay there for a while, but touring is different. You rarely see anything. You get there early in the morning and you're resting all day, and you go in and do a sound check, and you do the show, and then bam you're gone.
Quote examples
Delilah
British Musician
Music is the language of the angels. You can hear just one or two chords, one or two notes of a song, and bam - you're right back there, you're right back in that moment, you're back in that day, you're back at that prom, you're back in the car.
Quote examples
Mario Gomez
German Athlete
Scoring a goal is an explosion of feelings. It's there immediately - bam! Before you kick the ball, you feel like you're 200 kilos. Then the ball leaves your foot, goes through the air and ripples the net. And for that moment, you're weightless.
Quote examples
Helen McCrory
British Actress
You can be moved by a performance on set, but when you see it on screen, it does nothing. Yet there will be someone you simply didn't notice on set that on screen: bam!
Quote examples
Anna Boden
American Director
With 'Half Nelson,' we went to Sundance and then we just bam, bam, bam, festival, festival, festival, festival and then we released in August.
Quote examples
Whoopi Goldberg
American Actress
I don't have to be bam, bam, bam, funny when I'm working. I can tell stories, and there's some funny in them.
Quote examples
Ian Hecox
American Comedian
Usually in a Smosh sketch, we get 60 shots, 12 hours to shoot - we're just going 'bam, bam, bam.
Quote examples
David Baldacci
American Novelist
I'm scattered, and then that last hundred pages, bam, I'm a laser.
Quote examples
Douglas Coupland
Canadian Author
I think half the people who get married now have met online. If I think about all the people in my life who married - they met online, online, online. And it makes sense if you think about it, because you fill out this form of 35 things that really define you and - bam - look, you've got two people who match. It works.
Quote examples
Alex Smith
American Athlete
It's one thing as a quarterback to sit there and warm up. And there's one thing to throw routes. And there's another thing when you drop back in the pocket and, when a guy comes open, to really be able to urgently - bam - all of a sudden. That guy's open; your body has to do what your mind's telling you.
Quote examples
George Strait
American Musician
I don't mind traveling that much when I can go somewhere and stay there for a while, but touring is different. You rarely see anything. You get there early in the morning and you're resting all day, and you go in and do a sound check, and you do the show, and then bam you're gone.
Quote examples
Delilah
British Musician
Music is the language of the angels. You can hear just one or two chords, one or two notes of a song, and bam - you're right back there, you're right back in that moment, you're back in that day, you're back at that prom, you're back in the car.
Quote examples
Mario Gomez
German Athlete
Scoring a goal is an explosion of feelings. It's there immediately - bam! Before you kick the ball, you feel like you're 200 kilos. Then the ball leaves your foot, goes through the air and ripples the net. And for that moment, you're weightless.
Quote examples
Helen McCrory
British Actress
You can be moved by a performance on set, but when you see it on screen, it does nothing. Yet there will be someone you simply didn't notice on set that on screen: bam!
Quote examples
Anna Boden
American Director
With 'Half Nelson,' we went to Sundance and then we just bam, bam, bam, festival, festival, festival, festival and then we released in August.
Quote examples
Whoopi Goldberg
American Actress
I don't have to be bam, bam, bam, funny when I'm working. I can tell stories, and there's some funny in them.
Quote examples
Ian Hecox
American Comedian
Usually in a Smosh sketch, we get 60 shots, 12 hours to shoot - we're just going 'bam, bam, bam.
Quote examples
David Baldacci
American Novelist
I'm scattered, and then that last hundred pages, bam, I'm a laser.
Example 1 of 10
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