vt a goad; incitement.
2. sting ·vt the point of an epigram or other sarcastic saying.
3. sting ·vt to goad; to incite, as by taunts or reproaches.
4. sting ·vt to pain acutely; as, the conscience is stung with remorse; to bite.
5. sting ·vt the thrust of a sting into the flesh; the act of stinging; a wound inflicted by stinging.
6. sting ·vt anything that gives acute pain, bodily or mental; as, the stings of remorse; the stings of reproach.
7. sting ·vt to pierce or wound with a sting; as, bees will sting an animal that irritates them; the nettles stung his hands.
8. sting ·vt a sharp-pointed hollow hair seated on a gland which secrets an acrid fluid, as in nettles. the points of these hairs usually break off in the wound, and the acrid fluid is pressed into it.
9. sting ·vt any sharp organ of offense and defense, especially when connected with a poison gland, and adapted to inflict a wound by piercing; as the caudal sting of a scorpion. the sting of a bee or wasp is a modified ovipositor. the caudal sting, or spine, of a sting ray is a modified dorsal fin ray. the term is sometimes applied to the fang of a serpent. ·see ·illust. of scorpion.