— stingingly , adv. — stingless , adj.
/sting/ , v. , stung or ( Obs. ) stang; stung; stinging; n.
v.t.
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, esp. to overcharge; soak.
v.i.
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.
n.
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. Bot. a glandular hair on certain plants, as nettles, that emits an irritating fluid.
19. Zool. any of various sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organs of insects and other animals capable of inflicting painful or dangerous wounds.
20. Slang.
a. See 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.
[ bef. 900; (v.) ME stingen, OE stingan to pierce; c. ON stinga to pierce, Goth -stangan (in usstangan to pull out); (n.) ME sting ( e ), OE: act of stinging, deriv. of the v. ]