bam
bam — exclamation
1. spoken or written to imitate the noise made when something is struck hard or whe
spoken or written to imitate the noise made when something is struck hard or when a gun goes off.
Bam! The wooden door slammed shut behind Mei as she ran into the kitchen.
imitative noise at start of clause
The cartoon hero punched the robot, and we heard a loud bam from the speakers.
noun-like use after 'a loud'
Bam, bam, bam! Dimitri knocked three times on his brother's bedroom door.
The hunter raised his rifle and bam, the rabbit dropped to the ground.
用法筆記
Often written with an exclamation mark and placed at the start of a sentence, just before describing what made the noise. Distinguish from sense 2, which marks suddenness rather than the actual sound.
常見錯誤
2. said before describing an event to stress that it took place all at once, with n
said before describing an event to stress that it took place all at once, with no warning — for example, a person walking in unexpectedly or a problem appearing.
I was walking down the street and bam, an old friend from school appeared in front of me.
bam + sudden new event in narrative
You add the eggs, mix for two minutes, and bam, your cake batter is ready.
informal recipe-style instructions
The team was leading by ten points, and bam, the other side scored twice in a minute.
Sven pressed one button and bam, all her photos were gone from the laptop.
- suddenly
neutral and works in formal writing; 'bam' is informal only
- boom
very similar use; slightly more triumphant tone
- just like that
phrase with the same meaning, common in speech
- gradually
opposite idea — over time, not in one moment
用法筆記
Almost always preceded by 'and' and followed by a comma, then a short clause naming what happened. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense does not stand for any real noise.
常見錯誤
bam — noun
1. a single sharp, loud sound that begins and ends quickly, such as the noise of a
a single sharp, loud sound that begins and ends quickly, such as the noise of a heavy book hitting the floor.
The heavy book hit the wooden floor with a loud bam that woke the cat.
with a [adjective] bam
Kofi heard a sharp bam from the garage and ran outside to check on his car.
a sharp bam — typical adjective + noun
The fireworks ended with three quick bams over the harbour.
There was a sudden bam in the kitchen as the pan slid off the stove.
文法句型
a bam
with a bam
用法筆記
Countable. Frequently follows 'with a' or appears after adjectives such as 'loud', 'sharp', or 'sudden'. The sound is brief; for a deeper or longer noise, prefer 'boom'.