Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun (sometimes initial capital letter)
- a form of lotto in which balls or slips, each with a number and one of the letters B, I, N, G, or O, are drawn at random and players cover the corresponding numbers printed on their cards, the winner being the first to cover five numbers in any row or diagonal or, sometimes, all numbers on the card.
interjection
- (used to call a win in bingo.)
- (used to express suddenness or swiftness, as of an action): He waved his hand, and, bingo, the card reappeared.
- (used to acknowledge someone’s sudden understanding or correct response): Bingo! That’s just what I meant!
noun plural -gos
- a gambling game, usually played with several people, in which numbers selected at random are called out and the players cover the numbers on their individual cards. The first to cover a given arrangement of numbers is the winnerCompare lotto
sentence substitute
- a cry by the winner of a game of bingo
- an expression of surprise at a sudden occurrence or the successful completion of somethingand bingo! the lights went out
lotto-like game of chance, 1936; many theories about its origin, none satisfying; the most likely is bingo! as an exclamation of sudden realization or surprise (attested from 1923). Uncertain connection to the slang word for “brandy” (1690s); attested as “liquor” in American English, 1861. Thomas Chandler Haliburton (“Sam Slick”) in “The Americans at Home” (1854) recounts a story of a drinking game in which the children’s song about the farmer’s dog was sung and when it came time to spell out the name, every participant had to take a letter in turn, and anyone who missed or flubbed had to drink.