Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) to shoot; to kill by shooting.

1816		W. Scott Old Mortality in Waverley II (1855) 425: It’s not easy to bang the soldier with his bandoleers.
1837		R.M. Bird Nick of the Woods I 24: Bang away you big fool, and don’t stand talking.
1873		W.H. Thomes Bushrangers 288: ‘And yer vont shoot at me?’ ‘Not while you are talking with us.’ ‘Vell, then I vont bang at you.’.
1879		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 4 Oct. 4/2: ‘I drew my revolver and fired [...] I ran up and banged her again and that was the shot that killed the G—d d—n b—h’.
1900		Boy’s Own Paper 10 Nov. 91: I banged at him with both barrels.
1927		B. Cormack Racket Act II: Afraid the witness’d get banged, uh?
1928		J. Callahan Man’s Grim Justice 85: I whipped out my gun and fired [...] They banged away at me.
1930		J. Lait Gangster Girl 103: Anybody I can’t jack up I can bang off.
1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl. 16: bang, v. (off). To shoot.
1947		C.S. Montanye ‘Frozen Stiff’ Popular Detective Mar. 🌐 He banged away from that ambuscade, getting in a couple of lucky shots.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 22/2: Bang, v. 1. To shoot.
1985		T. Wolff ‘The Sister’ in Back in the World 84: [H]e and his buddies would be banging away at them [i.e. geese] from one of the marshes outside town.
2001		Source Aug. 96: ‘A nigga banged me up two or three times.’ [...] Rumor mill has it that the dude shot six times and then realized that you weren’t the person he was gunning for.
2017		Harlem Spartans ‘Teddy Bruckshot’ 🎵 And if your dot dot come way too long, chop it, chop it, and bang on them utes.

2. (Aus.) in fig, use, to spend money [on pattern of smash v.¹ (5)].

1914

Sport (Adelaide) 28 Aug. 5/2: Arthur T. [...] banged ninepence and sported a Jack Johnson haircut. You look a dag, Arthur .