sting

See also: STing and Sting

English

A wasp sting—a pointed portion of an insect

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /stɪŋ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪŋ

Etymology 1

From Middle English stynge, sting, stenge, from Old English sting, stinċġ (“a sting, stab, thrust made with a pointed instrument; the wound made by a stab or sting”), from Proto-Germanic *stangiz.

Noun

sting (plural stings)

A bump left on the skin after having been stung.
Look at this nasty hornet sting: it's turned blue!
A puncture made by an insect or arachnid in an attack, usually including the injection of venom.
She died from a bee sting.
A pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack.
Synonym: stinger
A sharp, localised pain primarily on the epidermis
That plant will give a little sting if you touch it.
(botany) A sharp-pointed hollow hair seated on a gland which secretes an acrid fluid, as in nettles.
The thrust of a sting into the flesh; the act of stinging; a wound inflicted by stinging.
- 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 606515358, [Act II, scene ii]:
  the lurking serpent's mortal sting
(law enforcement) A police operation in which the police pretend to be criminals in order to catch a criminal.
The criminal gang was caught after a successful sting.
- 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, OCLC 246633669, PC, scene: Citadel:
  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?
A short percussive phrase played by a drummer to accent the punchline in a comedy show.
A brief sequence of music used in films, TV, and video games as a form of scenic punctuation or to identify the broadcasting station.
A support for a wind tunnel model which extends parallel to the air flow.
- 2001, T. J. Mueller, Fixed and Flapping Wing Aerodynamics for Micro Air Vehicle Applications, page 118:
  The balance is mounted externally on top of the wind tunnel test section. A sting connects the balance to the model.
(figurative) The harmful or painful part of something.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Corinthians 15:56, column 1:
  The ſting of death is ſinne, […]
- 2011 January 19, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal”, in BBC‎:
  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.
A goad; incitement.
- 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 216596634:
  O most potential love! vow, bond, nor space, / In thee hath neither sting, knot, nor confine
The concluding point of an epigram or other sarcastic saying.

Synonyms

(pointed portion of an insect or arachnid): stinger

Translations

bump on skin after having been stung

Bulgarian: ожилване n (ožilvane)
Catalan: fiblada (ca) f, picada (ca) f
Czech: bodnutí n, píchnutí n
Finnish: paukama (fi), patti (fi)
French: piqûre (fr) f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Stich (de) m
Greek:
Ancient: δῆγμα n (dêgma)
Hungarian: csípés (hu)
Italian: bozzo m, gonfiore (it) m, escrescenza (it) f, protuberanza (it) f, rigonfiamento (it) m
Japanese: (general) 刺し傷 (sashi-kizu); (formal) 刺傷 (ja) (shishō)
Norwegian: stikk (no) n
Polish: ukąszenie (pl) n
Spanish: picadura (es) f

puncture (by an insect or arachnid)

Armenian: խայթոց (hy) (xaytʿocʿ)
Bulgarian: ожилване n (ožilvane)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 叮咬 (zh) (dīngyǎo)
Czech: bodnutí, píchnutí
Esperanto: piko
Finnish: pistos (fi), purema (fi)
French: piqûre (fr) f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Stich (de) m, Biss (de) m, Insektenstich (de) m, Insektenbiss m, (bee) Bienenstich (de) m, (wasp) Wespenstich (de), (scorpion) Skorpionstich (de) m
Hebrew: עֲקִיצָה‎ (he) f
Hungarian: csípés (hu)
Irish: cealg f
Italian: puntura (it) f
Japanese: 虫刺され (mushi sasare), 虫さされ (mushi sasare)
Malay: sengatan
Norwegian: stikk (no) n
Persian: گزش‎ (fa) (gazeš)
Polish: ukąszenie (pl) n
Portuguese: ferroada (pt) f (sting), picada (pt) f (bite)
Romanian: înțepătură (ro) f
Russian: уку́с насеко́мого m (ukús nasekómovo)
Spanish: picadura (es) f
Telugu: కుట్టు (te) (kuṭṭu)
Thai: กัด (th) (gàt), ต่อย (th) (dtɔ̀i)
Turkish: sokma (tr)
Volapük: stegül, (insect) näsäkastegül, (bee) bienastegül, (flea) flibastegül, (scorpion) skorpionastegül

pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack — see stinger

sharp, localised pain in epidermis

Finnish: pisto (fi)
Spanish: punzada (es) f
Telugu: కుట్టు (te) (kuṭṭu)

police operation

Czech: zátah, léčka
Finnish: soluttautuminen
German: verdeckte Operation f
Japanese: 囮捜査 (おとりそうさ, otorisōsa)
Spanish: trampa (es) f

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

Translations to be checked

Dutch: ^{(please verify)} steek (nl)
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} sengatan (id)
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} piccatura

Etymology 2

From Middle English stingen, from Old English stingan, from Proto-Germanic *stinganą. Compare Swedish and Icelandic stinga.

Verb

sting (third-person singular simple present stings, present participle stinging, simple past stung or (rare, dialectal) stang, past participle stung)

(transitive, intransitive) To hurt, usually by introducing poison or a sharp point, or both.
An adder came out of a little heathbush, and it stung a man in the foot.
(transitive, of an insect or arachnid) To puncture with the stinger.
A mosquito stung me on the arm.
(intransitive, sometimes figurative) To hurt, to be in pain (physically or emotionally).
My hand stings after knocking on the door so long.
Still, it stung when a slightly older acquaintance asked me why I couldn't do any better.
- 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, in BBC‎:
  But Birmingham were clearly stung by some harsh words from manager Alex McLeish at the break and within 15 minutes of the restart the game had an entirely different complexion.
(figurative) To cause harm or pain to.
I thought I could park in front of the hotel, but they stung me for five pounds!

Derived terms

sting like a bee
stingproof
stingy

Translations

to hurt

Arabic: طَعَنَ‎ (ṭaʿana)
Czech: bodnout (cs) pf, kousnout pf, píchnout (cs) pf
Finnish: pistää (fi), purra (fi)
Galician: aferretar
German: stechen (de)
Greek: τσιμπάω (el) (tsimpáo)
Latin: pungō
Latvian: dzelt
Maori: nanamu
Norman: pitchi
Quechua: wach'iy
Romanian: împunge (ro)
Russian: (transitive) причиня́ть боль impf (pričinjátʹ bolʹ), (intransitive) чу́вствовать боль impf (čúvstvovatʹ bolʹ), (intransitive) испы́тывать боль impf (ispýtyvatʹ bolʹ), (intransitive) боле́ть (ru) impf (bolétʹ)
Spanish: picar (es), pinchar (es)
Tagalog: nasakitan
Turkish: ısırmak (tr), sokmak (tr)

of an insect or arachnid: to puncture with the stinger

Arabic: لَسَعَ‎ (lasaʿa)
Egyptian Arabic: قرص‎ (ʔaraṣ)
Moroccan Arabic: قرص‎ (qraṣ), عض‎ (ʕaḍḍ)
Armenian: կծել (hy) (kcel), խայթել (hy) (xaytʿel)
Bashkir: сағыу (sağıw)
Belarusian: джа́ліць impf (džálicʹ), куса́ць impf (kusácʹ), джгаць impf (džhacʹ)
Brunei Malay: sangat
Bulgarian: жиля (bg) impf (žilja)
Catalan: picar (ca), fiblar (ca)
Cebuano: gipaak, napaak
Chinese:
Mandarin: 蜇 (zh) (zhē), 叮 (zh) (dīng), 螫 (zh) (shì), 刺 (zh) (cì), 刺痛 (zh) (cìtòng)
Czech: bodnout (cs) pf, píchnout (cs) pf
Egyptian:

(pzḥ)
Finnish: pistää (fi), purra (fi)
French: piquer (fr)
Friulian: sponzi, spongi
Galician: picar (gl), aferretar
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: stechen (de)
Greek: κεντρίζω (el) (kentrízo), τσιμπάω (el) (tsimpáo)
Ancient: κεντέω (kentéō)
Hungarian: szúr (hu), csíp (hu)
Irish: cealg
Italian: pungere (it)
Japanese: 食う (ja) (くう, kuu), 刺す (ja) (さす, sasu)
Korean: 물다 (ko) (mulda), 찌르다 (ko) (jjireuda), 쏘다 (ko) (ssoda)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: پێوەدان‎ (pêwedan)
Ladin: sponjer, sponje
Latin: īcō
Latvian: dzelt
Lithuanian: gelti (lt)
Macedonian: боцнува impf (bocnuva), боцне pf (bocne)
Malay: sengat
Malayalam: കുത്തുക (ml) (kuttuka)
Maori: kakati, wero
Norwegian: stikke (no)
Occitan: picar (oc)
Oromo: hidduu
Persian: گزیدن‎ (fa) (gazidan)
Polish: żądlić (pl) impf, użądlić (pl) pf, kąsać (pl) impf, ukąsić (pl) pf
Portuguese: picar (pt), morder (pt)
Quechua: kaniy (qu)
Romanian: înțepa (ro), pișca (ro)
Russian: жа́лить (ru) impf (žálitʹ), ужа́лить (ru) pf (užálitʹ); куса́ть (ru) impf (kusátʹ), укуси́ть (ru) pf (ukusítʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: уба́дати impf, у̀бости pf
Roman: ubádati (sh) impf, ùbosti (sh) pf
Simalungun Batak: sorod
Slovak: bodnúť pf, pichnúť pf
Slovene: pičiti (sl) impf
Spanish: picar (es)
Swedish: stinga (sv), sticka (sv)
Tagalog: kinagat
Telugu: కుట్టు (te) (kuṭṭu)
Thai: กัด (th) (gàt), ต่อย (th) (dtɔ̀i)
Turkish: sokmak (tr)
Ukrainian: жа́лити impf (žályty), ужа́лити pf (užályty), куса́ти (uk) impf (kusáty), укуси́ти pf (ukusýty), жига́ти impf (žyháty), джигну́ти pf (džyhnúty)
Venetian: sponzer, spunciar, ponzer, ponxer, ponzar, ponxar
Vietnamese: đốt (vi), chích (vi)
Volapük: stegülön (vo)
Walloon: hagnî (wa), piker (wa)

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

Translations to be checked

Albanian: ^{(please verify)} pickoj (sq)
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} steken (nl)
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} menyengat (id), ^{(please verify)} mengantup
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} piccar, ^{(please verify)} punger

Anagrams

GTINs, Tings, gnits, tings

Middle English

Noun

sting

Alternative form of stynge

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From the verb stinge.

Noun

sting n (definite singular stinget, indefinite plural sting, definite plural stinga or stingene)

a stitch (in sewing and surgery)
stitch (pain in the side)

References

“sting” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From the verb stinge.

Noun

sting m (definite singular stingen, indefinite plural stingar or stinger, definite plural stingane or stingene)

stitch (pain in the side)

sting n (definite singular stinget, indefinite plural sting, definite plural stinga)

a stitch (in sewing and surgery)

References

“sting” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *stangiz; akin to stingan.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /stinɡ/, [stiŋɡ]

Noun

sting m

sting, stinging (of an animal)

Descendants

Middle English: stynge, stenge, sting, steng
- English: sting
- Scots: sting

Romanian

Verb

sting

inflection of stinge:
1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
2. third-person plural present indicative

Swedish

Pronunciation

Audio (file)

Verb

sting

imperative of stinga.

Anagrams

tings

Westrobothnian

Etymology

From Old Norse stinga, from Proto-Germanic *stinganą. Compare Icelandic, Faroese stinga, Swedish stinga, sticka, stånga, English sting.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /²st(e)iŋː/
Rhymes: -ìŋɡ

Verb

sting, stikk (present stikk, preterite stang or stakk, plural ståkk, supine ståkkä, past participle stongän or ståkkä)

(transitive, intransitive) To sting, stab, gore.

Derived terms

naut-stongän, naut-ståkkä
mark-stongen

Related terms

stang
stöing