An onomatopoeia representing the sound of a loud gunshot or explosion.
Imitative in origin, created to mimic the explosive sound of weapons. Popular in comic books and action fiction from the mid-20th century onward.
Comic books invented or standardized words like 'blam,' 'pow,' and 'zap'—they needed visual ways to show sounds. The word shows how we actually write sound effects using letters, like 'bl' for the initial burst and 'am' for the resonance.
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