thumping
n.— «Then a soldier would conduct the equivalent of what the oil industry calls “thumping.” Within the area rigged with sensors, a soldier would shoot a rifle at a small metal plate on the ground, causing reverberations anywhere from 20 to 200 feet into the ground.» —“Project lets Army dig deep into underground data” by Anne Broache CNET Aug. 22, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
What exactly is a planet? Controversy over this question led to Pluto’s redefinition, along with a brand-new English word. And: Some people now use the phrase all the things! to mean and whatnot or you know what I mean. This new sense of all...