sting
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɪŋ
Forms: form: stings
Etymology: From Middle English styng, sting, stynge, stenge, from Old English sting, stincg (“a sting, stab, thrust made with a pointed instrument; the wound made by a stab or sting”), from Proto-Germanic *stingaz; possibly also from Old English stynġ, from Proto-Germanic *stungiz.
Senses: examples: text: Look at this nasty hornet sting: it's turned blue!
glosses: A bump left on the skin after having been stung.
examples: text: She died from a bee sting.
glosses: A puncture made by an insect or arachnid in an attack, usually including the injection of venom.
synonyms: stinger
glosses: A pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack.
examples: text: That plant will give a little sting if you touch it.
glosses: A sharp, localized pain primarily on the epidermis.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: A sharp-pointed hollow hair seated on a gland which secretes an acrid fluid, as in nettles.
examples: text: the lurking serpent's mortal sting
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
glosses: The thrust of a sting into the flesh; the act of stinging; a wound inflicted by stinging.
examples: text: The criminal gang was caught after a successful sting.
text: Shepard: I'm taking you in, Jax.
Turian Bodyguard: It's a sting. Bastard set us up.
Jax: What the hell are you playing at?
ref: 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
topics: government
law-enforcement
glosses: A police operation in which the police pretend to engage in criminal activity in order to catch a criminal.
glosses: A short percussive phrase played by a drummer to accent the punchline in a comedy show.
synonyms: sounder
glosses: A brief sequence of music used in films, TV, and video games as a form of scenic punctuation or to identify the broadcasting station.
examples: text: The balance is mounted externally on top of the wind tunnel test section. A sting connects the balance to the model.
ref: 2001, T. J. Mueller, Fixed and Flapping Wing Aerodynamics for Micro Air Vehicle Applications, page 118:
glosses: A support for a wind tunnel model which extends parallel to the air flow.
examples: text: The ſting of death is ſinne, […]
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 15:56, column 1:
text: Just as it appeared Arsenal had taken the sting out of the tie, Johnson produced a moment of outrageous quality, thundering a bullet of a left foot shot out of the blue and into the top left-hand corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net with the Pole grasping at thin air.
ref: 2011 January 19, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal”, in BBC:
glosses: The harmful or painful part of something.
examples: text: O most potential love! vow, bond, nor space, / In thee hath neither sting, knot, nor confine
ref: 1609, William Shakespeare, “A Louers Complaint”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
glosses: A goad; incitement.
glosses: The concluding point of an epigram or other sarcastic saying.
Synonyms: sense: pointed portion of an insect or arachnid
word: stinger
Derived terms: bee sting
countersting
European sting winkle
ring sting
sting in the tail
stingless