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sting

Pronunciation: /ˈstɪŋ/

The English word “sting” has 17 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A bump left on the skin after having been stung.
  2. A puncture made by an insect or arachnid in an attack, usually including the injection of venom.
  3. A pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack.
  4. A sharp, localized pain primarily on the epidermis.
  5. A sharp-pointed hollow hair seated on a gland which secretes an acrid fluid, as in nettles.
  6. The thrust of a sting into the flesh; the act of stinging; a wound inflicted by stinging.
  7. A police operation in which the police pretend to engage in criminal activity in order to catch a criminal.
  8. A short percussive phrase played by a drummer to accent the punchline in a comedy show.
  9. A brief sequence of music used in films, TV, and video games as a form of scenic punctuation or to identify the broadcasting station.
  10. A support for a wind tunnel model which extends parallel to the air flow.
  11. The harmful or painful part of something.
  12. A goad; incitement.
  13. The concluding point of an epigram or other sarcastic saying.

verb

  1. To hurt, usually by introducing poison or a sharp point, or both.
  2. To puncture with the stinger.
  3. To hurt, to be in pain (physically or emotionally).
  4. To cause harm or pain to.

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.