pang
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly derived from Middle English *pange, perhaps an altered form of prange, prōnge (“affliction, agony, pain; pointed instrument”) as in prongys of deth (“pangs of death, death throes”), from Anglo-Latin pronga, of unknown origin. Perhaps connected with Middle Dutch prange, pranghe (“instrument for pinching”) (modern Dutch prang (“horse restraint; fetter, neck iron”)), Middle Low German prange (“pole, stake; (possibly) kind of pillory or stocks”), Old English pyngan (“to prick”). The word may thus be related to prong.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Inflected forms:
form: pangs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: pangs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: panging
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: panged
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: panged
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A paroxysm of extreme physical pain or anguish; a feeling of sudden and transitory agony; a throe.
pos: noun
tags: in-plural
often
examples: War[wick]. See how the pangs of death do make him grin. / Sal[isbury]. Diſturbe him not, let him paſſe peaceably.
He is knight dubb'd with vnhatche'd Rapier, and on carpet conſideration, but he is a diuell in priuate brall, soules and bodies hath he diuorc'd three, and his incenſement at this moment is ſo implacable, that ſatisfaction can be none, but by pangs of death and ſepulcher: Hob, nob, is his word: giu't or take't.
But, oh! what pangs torment the deſtin’d heart, / That feels the wound, yet dare not ſhow the dart; / What eaſe could Ovid to his ſorrows give, / Who muſt not ſpeak, and therefore cannot live?
"Will it hurt much?"—"No, mine own: / I wish I could bear the pang for both." / "I wish I could bear the pang alone: / Courage, dear, I am not loth."
So the Nightingale pressed closer against the thorn, and the thorn touched her heart, and a fierce pang of pain shot through her. Bitter, bitter was the pain, and wilder and wilder grew her song, for she sang of the Love that is perfected by Death, of the Love that dies not in the tomb.
For Lucifer, as Lord of Fire, was thought to suffer the most terrible pangs whenever the element of fire, over which he presided, was convulsed or agitated.
gloss: A sudden sharp feeling of an emotional or mental nature, as of joy or sorrow.
pos: noun
tags: in-plural
often
examples: He had not gone far, when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman, who had walked into his counting-house the day before, and said, "Scrooge and Marley's, I believe?" It sent a pang across his heart to think how this old gentleman would look upon him when they met; but he knew what path lay straight before him, and he took it.
He was startled with a piece of information which gave him such an exquisite pang of delight that he could hardly keep the usual quiet of his demeanor.
Unfortunately, in the hurry of leaving home, he had forgotten to provide himself with food, and at lunch time found himself attacked by the pangs of hunger.
gloss: To cause to have great pain or suffering; to torment, to torture.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Yet if that quarrell, Fortune, to diuorce / It from the bearer, 'tis a ſufferance, panging / As ſoule and bodies ſeuering.
And perhaps a not altogether false little story could be written about a man who never visited those most dear to him, because it panged him so to say good-bye when he had to leave.
Synonyms: stab
twinge
Derived words: birth pang
birth pangs
breast pang
hunger pang
hunger pangs
pangful
pangless
pang of conscience
Translations: