▪ I. voom, int. U.S.
(vuːm)
[Echoic.]
Indicating the sound of an explosion; usu. in fig. contexts. Occas. redupl. as n., the roar of an engine being revved. Cf. vroom.
| 1964 in Hamblett & Deverson Generation X 115 Ideally, according to them, young people should be seen and not heard. The moment they do something to draw attention to themselves, voom: trouble. 1968 S. J. Perelman in New Yorker 23 Nov. 58/1 The inspiration came to me—voom. 1978 New York 3 Apr. 56/1 The screeching car brakes, honking horns, the voom-voom of motorcycles, and the thundering of First Avenue buses exhausted me. 1985 Observer 12 May 1/1, I thought someone had let off a smoke bomb, then voom it all went off. |
▪ II. voom
variant of vome n. Obs.