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blooped

/bluːpt/ verb · British & US
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What does blooped mean?

"Blooped" is the past tense of the informal verb "bloop," a word with three main modern uses. In baseball, most familiar to American audiences, a batter who blooped the ball has hit it in a high, soft arc so that it drops just out of reach of the infielders or outfielders — a modest but effective way to reach base. In everyday and technical contexts, something blooped when it emitted a brief, low-pitched blip or bubbling noise, as old modems, synthesizers, and video games famously did. In broadcasting, a speaker who blooped has been caught by a live microphone, inadvertently transmitting remarks meant to be private. The word carries a light, informal, slightly comic tone in all its senses, echoing the family of expressive sound-words such as "bleep" and "blip." Its imitative origin gives it an onomatopoeic charm that makes it memorable and fun to use.

verb

Past tense and past participle of "bloop": to make a short, low-pitched hooting or bubbling sound, or (in broadcasting) to unintentionally transmit something over a live microphone; in baseball, to hit a soft, looping fly ball that drops in for a hit.

Senses
  1. (baseball) Hit (a ball) in a high, soft arc that falls between fielders for a hit.
  2. Made a short, low-pitched electronic or bubbling sound.
  3. (broadcasting) Accidentally transmitted speech over a live microphone.
Example

"The intern blooped into the live mic just before the segment ended."

More examples

"She blooped a single over the shortstop's head to load the bases."

"The synthesizer blooped twice before the system shut down."

Did you know?

In baseball, a 'blooped' ball can drop safely between fielders purely because nobody can reach it — the laziest hit in the sport.

Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.

Etymology of blooped

"Bloop" is an onomatopoeic American English word of the early twentieth century, imitating a hollow, bubbling, or low-pitched sound. It gained early currency in radio broadcasting, where a loud feedback or accidental transmission was called a bloop, which in turn gave rise to the noun "blooper" for an embarrassing on-air mistake. The word later spread to baseball commentary for a softly hit, looping fly ball. It belongs to a playful family of imitative English words built on the "bl-" sound cluster, alongside "bleep," "blip," and "blob."

Related word forms

How blooped is actually used

Informal register throughout. The baseball sense is common in American sports commentary; the sound-effect sense appears mostly in casual or technical descriptions of electronics; the broadcasting sense is chiefly American and often appears in phrases like 'the mic was left on.'

Easily confused with blooped

blooper

A blooper is an embarrassing mistake (especially a recorded gaffe), while blooped is the verb form describing making a soft sound, an accidental broadcast, or a softly hit baseball.

What's another word for blooped?

Words and phrases paired with blooped

blooped singleblooped into the microphoneblooped it over the infield

Rhymes with blooped