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STINGS

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sting

   [sting] ,verb, stung or (Obsolete) stang; stung; sting·ing; noun
verb (used with object)
1.
to prick or wound with a sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organ.
2.
to affect painfully or irritatingly as a result of contact, as certain plants do: to be stung by nettles.
3.
to cause to smart or to cause a sharp pain: The blowing sand stung his eyes.
4.
to cause mental or moral anguish: to be stung with remorse.
5.
to goad or drive, as by sharp irritation.
EXPAND
6.
Slang. to cheat or take advantage of, especially to overcharge; soak.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
7.
to use, have, or wound with a sting, as bees.
8.
to cause a sharp, smarting pain, as some plants, an acrid liquid or gas, or a slap or hit.
9.
to cause acute mental pain or irritation, as annoying thoughts or one's conscience: The memory of that insult still stings.
10.
to feel acute mental pain or irritation: He was stinging from the blow to his pride.
11.
to feel a smarting pain, as from a blow or the sting of an insect.

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Stings is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
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noun
12.
an act or an instance of stinging.
13.
a wound, pain, or smart caused by stinging.
14.
any sharp physical or mental wound, hurt, or pain.
15.
anything or an element in anything that wounds, pains, or irritates: to feel the sting of defeat; Death, where is thy sting?
16.
capacity to wound or pain: Satire has a sting.
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17.
a sharp stimulus or incitement: driven by the sting of jealousy; the sting of ambition.
18.
Botany. a glandular hair on certain plants, as nettles, that emits an irritating fluid.
19.
Zoology. any of various sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organs of insects and other animals capable of inflicting painful or dangerous wounds.
20.
Slang.
a.
confidence game.
b.
an ostensibly illegal operation, as the buying of stolen goods or the bribing of public officials, used by undercover investigators to collect evidence of wrongdoing.
COLLAPSE
Origin:
before 900; (v.) Middle English stingen, Old English stingan to pierce; cognate with Old Norse stinga to pierce, Gothic -stangan (in usstangan to pull out); (noun) Middle English sting(e), Old English: act of stinging, derivative of the v.

Related forms
sting·ing·ly, adverb
sting·less, adjective
out·sting, verb (used with object), -stung, -sting·ing.
re·sting, verb, -stung, -sting·ing.
un·sting·ing, adjective
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un·sting·ing·ly, adverb
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To STINGS
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sting
O.E. stingan "to prick with a small point" (of weapons, insects, plants, etc.), from P.Gmc. *stenganan (cf. O.N. stinga, O.H.G. stungen "to prick," Goth. us-stagg "to prick out," O.H.G. stanga, Ger. stange "pole, perch," Ger. stengel "stalk, stem"), from PIE *stengh-, nasalized form of base *stegh- "to
EXPAND
prick, sting" (cf. O.E. stagga "stag," Gk. stokhos "pointed stake"). Specialized to insects late 15c. Slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" is from 1812. The noun is O.E. stincg, steng "act of stinging, stinging pain;" meaning "carefully planned theft or robbery" is attested from 1930; sense of "police undercover entrapment" first attested 1975. Sting ray is from 1624.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

sting (stĭng)
v. stung (stŭng), sting·ing, stings

  1. To pierce or wound painfully with or as if with a sharp-pointed structure or organ, as that of certain insects.

  2. To introduce venom by stinging.

  3. To cause to feel a sharp smarting pain by or as if by pricking with a sharp point.

n.

  1. The act of stinging.

  2. The wound or pain caused by or as if by stinging.

  3. The venom apparatus of a stinging organism.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Slang Dictionary

sting definition


  1. tv.
    to cheat or swindle someone; to overcharge someone. : That street merchant stung me, but good.
  2. n.
    a well-planned scheme to entrap criminals. : The sting came off without a hitch.
  3. tv.
    to entrap and arrest someone. : “We've been stung!” they hollered.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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