List of onomatopoeias

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

• Achoo, Atishoo
• Burp
• Chomp
• Cough
• Hiccup
• Hum
• Slurp
• Yawn
• Ow, Ouch

Sounds made by devices or other objects

• Awooga, or Aooga, the sound of an old-fashioned vehicle horn
• Beep, a high-pitched signal
• Beep, beep, 1929 word for a car horn
• Ching, the sound of metal on metal
• Clink, the sound of glass on glass
• Fizz, sound of effervescence
• Flutter, sound of rapid motion, e.g. aeroelastic flutter
• Oom-pah, the rhythmical sound of a deep brass instrument in a band
• Slosh
• Splash, sound of water upon disturbance
• Tick tick tick, sound of a timer
• Tick tock, sound of a clock
• Twang, having the sharp, vibrating tone of a plucked string
• Vroom, sound of an engine revving up
• Zap, sound of an electrostatic discharge

Things named after sounds

• 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

• Aye-aye
• Bobolink
• Bobwhite
• Chachalaca
• Chickadee
• Chiffchaff
• Chuck-will's-widow
• Coquí
• Cuckoo
• Curlew
• Dickcissel
• Dik-dik
• Hadada
• Hoopoe
• Hoot owl
• Kea
• Killdeer
• Mopoke, morepork or boobook owl
• Pewee
• Pobblebonk
• Potoo
• Poorwill
• Spring Peeper
• Weero
• Whip-poor-will (Eastern)
• Whip-poor-will (Mexican)
• Willet

Animal and bird noises

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

• 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

• "Boum!", a song.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a fictional car in the film of the same name based on the children's novel by Ian Fleming, named for the unusual noise of its engine.
• Clank, from the video game series Ratchet & Clank.
• Cock a doodle doo, from a nursery rhyme about a cockerel.
• Kachi-kachi Yama, a Japanese folktale, named for the crackling of a fire.
• Rattle and Hum, sixth album by the Irish band U2.
• Snap, Crackle and Pop, advertising mascots for branded cereal.
• Whaam!, pop art painting drawing from onomatopoeia in superhero comics (in this case, an explosion).
• Wham!, a 1980s English musical duo formed by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

Sounds in fiction

• 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
• 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

• "The Bells", a heavily onomatopoeic poem
• Bling-bling, an ideophone for ostentatious accessories
• Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias
• Old MacDonald Had a Farm, an American folk song about animal sounds

References

1. List of animal sounds
2. Onomatopoeia
3. Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias
4. Lists of English words
5. Meow
6. List of djent bands
7. Tamil onomatopoeia
8. Imitation of sounds in shamanism
9. Onomatopoeia (album)
10. List of ideophones in Basque
11. List of Greek and Latin roots in English/H–O
12. List of works by Akira Kurosawa
13. List of Greek and Latin roots in English/P–Z
14. List of ethnic slurs
15. List of narrative techniques
16. List of Mario franchise characters
17. List of comics publishing companies
18. Tamil language
19. List of Mega Man Star Force episodes
20. Jyutping