# sling
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English slynge (noun), slyngen (verb), probably from Old Norse slyngja, slyngva (“to hurl”), from Proto-Germanic *slingwaną (“to worm, twist”) or compare Old English slingan (“to wind, twist”), from the same source.
Compare German schlingen (“to swing, wind, twist”), Danish and Norwegian slynge), from Proto-Indo-European *slenk- (“to turn, twist”) (compare Welsh llyngyr (“worms, maggots”), Lithuanian sliñkti (“to crawl like a snake”), Latvian slìkt (“to sink”)).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈslɪŋ/
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪŋ

#### Verb

sling (third-person singular simple present slings, present participle slinging, simple past and past participle slung or slang)
* To throw with a circular or arcing motion.
    Synonyms: fling, hurl; see also Thesaurus:throw
** 2000, Bible (World English), Judges xx. 16
    Everyone could sling stones at an hairbreadth, and not miss.
** a. 1720, Joseph Addison, “Milton’s Style Imitated, in a Translation of a Story out of the Third Æneid”, in The Dramatick Works of Joseph Addison. With the Authour’s Poems, on Several Occasions:slings a broken rock aloft in air
* To throw with a sling.
* (nautical) To pass a rope around (a cask, gun, etc.) preparatory to attaching a hoisting or lowering tackle.
* (slang) To sell, peddle, or distribute (often illicitly, e.g. drugs, sex, etc.).
    Synonyms: slang, flog, flip
** 2008, Breaking Bad, Season 1, Episode 6:
    You may know a lot about chemistry, man, but you don't know jack about slinging dope.

##### Derived terms

* sling about
* sling along
* sling for
* sling in
* sling it in
* sling off
* sling one's hook
* sling one up
* sling out
* sling over
* sling the hatchet
* sling to
* sling up
* undersling

##### Translations
#### Noun

sling (plural slings)
* (weaponry) An instrument for throwing stones or other missiles, consisting of a short strap with two strings fastened to its ends, or with a string fastened to one end and a light stick to the other.
** 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 43:The Sling is also a weapon of great antiquity, formerly in high estimation among the ancients.
* A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported.
* A loop of cloth, worn around the neck, for supporting a baby or other such load.
* A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.
* A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder.
* (nautical, chiefly in the plural) A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast.
* The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke.
** 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:At one sling Of thy victorious arm, well-pleasing Son.
** 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act III, scene I, line 55:To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them.
* (climbing) A loop of rope or fabric tape used for various purposes: e.g. as part of a runner, or providing extra protection when abseiling or belaying.
* A drink composed of a spirit (usually gin) and water sweetened.
    gin sling
    a Singapore sling

##### Derived terms

* arse in a sling, ass in a sling
* baby sling
* boob-sling
* bottle sling
* butt in a sling
* gin sling
* hand-sling, hand sling
* Hawaiian sling
* mint sling
* Singapore sling
* sling bag
* sling bikini
* sling blade
* sling cart
* sling dog
* sling ink
* sling psychrometer
* slings and arrows
* slingshot
* slingstone, sling-stone, sling stone
* staff sling

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Descendants

* → Spanish: eslinga

### Etymology 2

From a shortening of spiderling.

#### Noun

sling (plural slings)
* A young or infant spider, such as one raised in captivity.

#### Further reading

* Sling in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

### Anagrams

* -lings, Lings, lings

## Middle English
### Noun

sling
* Alternative form of slynge