Blipping

/ˈblɪpɪŋ/ verb

Definition

Making short, quick beeping or popping sounds, or appearing and disappearing briefly on a screen or radar.

Etymology

From 'blip,' an onomatopoeia created in the early 1900s that imitates the sound itself. The term became particularly common during World War II when radar operators used it to describe the brief signals appearing on their screens.

Kelly Says

The word 'blip' became scientific during WWII—radar operators needed a word for those mysterious dots on their screens, and 'blip' stuck so well that it became an official term in physics and remains in use today on everything from sonar to video games.

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