1
: unduly loud or violent
a slam-bang clatter
2
: having fast-paced often nonstop action
a slam-bang adventure novel
3
: vigorously enthusiastic
made a slam-bang effort to win

Examples of slam-bang in a Sentence

heard a slam-bang crash from the garage
Recent Examples on the Web Dowd, who holds a master’s degree from New York’s Bernard Baruch School of Business and earns more than $40,000 a year [about $225,000 in 2024 dollars], sees the manhunt more as a nuts-and-bolts bureaucratic exercise than a slam-bang cops-and-robbers adventure. Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 22 June 2024 The coup de grâce is the credits sequence that follows this slam-bang cold open. A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2024 Glover and Sloane balance the pacing between missions and slam-bang set-pieces and the quieter moments, like John and Jane’s regular pillow-talk debriefs. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 1 Feb. 2024 The slam-bang stuff in this picture is too tediously routine. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023 Its slam-bang visual pileup plays against a long, steady stream of freight trains rolling past behind it, day and night, in a manufactured river transferring tons of cargo from the Port of Los Angeles to distribution centers to the east. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slam-bang.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1823, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of slam-bang was circa 1823

Dictionary Entries Near slam-bang

Cite this Entry

“Slam-bang.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slam-bang. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

slam-bang

adjective
ˈslam-ˈbaŋ
1
: very noisy or violent
2
: having fast-paced often nonstop action
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