pingback

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablecomputing

   An automatic notice that one website sends to another when it links to it, often shown as a comment.

   Grammar: Countable: the post received two pingbacks.

   Patterns

   • a pingback from something
   • send a pingback

   Our blog got a pingback when another site linked to the recipe.

   She noticed a pingback under her post and visited the site that sent it.

   Spam pingbacks flooded the comments section.

2. 2nouncountablecomputingtechnical

   In networking, a signal sent in reply to a ping request, confirming the message arrived.

   Grammar: Rare outside technical manuals.

   Patterns

   • wait for a pingback

   The server waits for a pingback before marking the device as online.

   No pingback means the connection may be down.

   The engineer logged each pingback with a timestamp.

Word forms

Common combinations

receive a pingback

We receive a pingback whenever someone links to us.

approve a pingback

The editor approved the pingback before it appeared.

disable pingbacks

Many blog owners disable pingbacks to avoid spam.

spam pingback

The spam pingback pointed to a shady site.

Synonyms and how they differ

trackback

Trackback is an older, similar system, but it requires the sender to send the notice manually, while a pingback is automatic.

backlink

A backlink is simply a link to your site from elsewhere, while a pingback is the notice generated by such a link.

notification

Notification is a general word for an alert, while pingback names this specific kind between websites.

Word family

ping verb

to send a quick signal or message to check a connection

ping noun

a short signal or sound

trackback noun

an older notification of the same type

hyperlink noun

a clickable link between pages

Commonly confused: pingback or feedback?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “pingback”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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