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Definitions for Stinging

[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.
[6] Slang . to cheat or take advantage of, especially to overcharge; soak.
[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.
[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.
[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 . confidence game. 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.
[21] (of certain animals and plants) to inflict a wound on (an organism) by the injection of poison
[22] to feel or cause to feel a sharp mental or physical pain
[23] (tr) to goad or incite (esp in the phrase sting into action )
[24] (tr) informal to cheat, esp by overcharging
[25] a skin wound caused by the poison injected by certain insects or plants
[26] pain caused by or as if by the sting of a plant or animal
[27] a mental pain or pang a sting of conscience
[28] a sharp pointed organ, such as the ovipositor of a wasp, by which poison can be injected into the prey
[29] the ability to sting a sharp sting in his criticism
[30] something as painful or swift of action as a sting the sting of death
[31] a sharp stimulus or incitement
[32] botany another name for stinging hair
[33] slang a swindle or fraud
[34] slang a trap set up by the police to entice a person to commit a crime and thereby produce evidence
[35] sting in the tail an unexpected and unpleasant ending

Words related to Stinging

stingbite, inspire, hurt, burn, poke, injure, electrify, needle, wound, prickle, pique, tingle, smart

Words nearby Stinging

stingstimulus, stimulus generalization, stimulus sensitive myoclonus, stimy, stine, sting, stingaree, stinger, stinging capsule, stinging hair, stinging nettle

Origin of Stinging

First recorded before 900; (verb) 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 verb

Other words from Stinging

sting·ing·ly , adverb
sting·less , adjective
out·sting , verb (used with object), out·stung, out·sting·ing.
re·sting , verb, re·stung, re·sting·ing.
un·sting·ing , adjective
un·sting·ing·ly , adverb

Word origin for Stinging

Old English stingan; related to Old Norse stinga to pierce, Gothic usstangan to pluck out, Greek stakhus ear of corn

Synonyms for Stinging

biting, bitter, caustic, harsh, incisive, mordant, penetrating, poignant, scathing, sharp, burning, acrimonious, aculeate, piquant, sarcastic