different between whang vs zhang

English

Etymology 1

Imitative. Compare wang.

Verb

whang (third-person singular simple present whangs, present participle whanging, simple past and past participle whanged)

1. (chiefly of an object) To make a noise like something moving quickly through the air.
2. (informal, transitive) To throw with a rapid slamming motion.
   • 1993, Ralph Moody, Edward Shenton (illustrator), The Fields of Home, page 31:

     I don't know how long it might have gone on if Grandfather hadn't lost his temper. He swung the bridle up over his head and whanged it down across the buckskin's rump.

3. (US, Scotland, Britain, dialect, slang) To whack or beat.

   I ought to have whanged him one in the eye.

4. (Scotland) To slice, especially into large pieces; to chop.

Noun

whang (plural whangs)

1. (dialect, colloquial) A blow; a whack.
2. (Britain, Scotland, dialect, colloquial) A large piece or slice; a chunk.
3. (US, dialect, dated) A house-cleaning party.

Etymology 2

Debuccalized (/?w/ > /hw/) from Scots thwang, cognate to thong.

Alternative forms

• wang

Pronunciation

Noun

whang (plural whangs)

1. (Britain, US, dialect, informal, dated) A leather thong.
2. (slang) A penis.

See also

• whangee

Anagrams

• Hwang

English

Etymology

From the pinyin romanization of Mandarin Chinese ? (zhàng)

Noun

zhang (usually uncountable, plural zhangs)

1. A traditional Chinese unit of length, 10 Chinese feet or ¹/₁₅₀ Chinese mile.

Usage notes

The exact length of a zhang depends upon the jurisdiction, with mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong all employing differently standardized values of the Chinese foot. See chi.

Related terms

• j?, the equivalent unit in Japanese contexts

Mandarin

Romanization

zhang

1. Nonstandard spelling of zh?ng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of zh?ng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of zhàng.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.