sting

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /stɪŋ/ UK /stɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to wound with a sharp pointed organ; a sharp tingling pain

The nettle gave her a nasty sting on the ankle.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to wound with a sharp... prick bite smart tingle wound burn nettle

Opposites

soothe comfort

Word family

Derived forms stingerstinging

Related forms stung

Appears in

Proverbs (2)

See all

Etymology

From Old English 'stingan', to pierce or prick, from Proto-Germanic '*stinganą', of imitative or pointed-action origin.

stingan Old English *stinganą Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# sting

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /stɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /stɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. to wound with a sharp pointed organ; a sharp tingling pain

## Examples
- The nettle gave her a nasty sting on the ankle.

## Synonyms
- prick
- bite
- smart
- tingle
- wound
- burn
- nettle

## Antonyms
- soothe
- comfort

## Derived Forms
- stinger
- stinging

## Related Forms
- stung

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: stingan
- Root: *stinganą

## Etymology
From Old English 'stingan', to pierce or prick, from Proto-Germanic '*stinganą', of imitative or pointed-action origin.

## AI Etymology
Sting comes from Old English 'stingan', to pierce or prick, from Proto-Germanic '*stinganą', of imitative or pointed-action origin. The historical chain includes Old English stingan and Proto-Germanic *stinganą. The quoted older senses, "stingan" and "*stinganą", supply the semantic anchors for sting. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word sting carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to wound with a sharp pointed organ; a sharp tingling pain". English derivatives include stinger and stinging; related English forms include stung. The result is a verb and noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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