Bip

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A brief high-pitched electronic sound, such as one made by a device signaling a signal or alert
2. The short electronic chirp a machine makes to signal a message, an error, or a completed action
3. A quick, shrill electronic tone produced by an instrument or gadget to draw attention

Etymology: Like "beep" and "bleep," "bip" is onomatopoeic: it imitates a short, sharp electronic tone, the kind made by a card reader or a dashboard alert. The sound came first and the word followed, so its form reflects how the noise is made, a clipped vowel and a hard final consonant. As a verb it means to make that sound, and as a noun it names one such tone. Its closest relatives in English are "beep" and "bleep," which share the same imitative pattern and the same electronic associations.