Library / English Dictionary

STING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: stung   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Operation designed to catch a person committing a criminal act

Example:

the police conducted a sting operation

Synonyms:

sting; sting operation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sting" is a kind of...):

operation (a planned activity involving many people performing various actions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property

Synonyms:

bunco; bunco game; bunko; bunko game; con; con game; confidence game; confidence trick; flimflam; hustle; sting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sting" is a kind of...):

cheat; rig; swindle (the act of swindling by some fraudulent scheme)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sting"):

sting operation (a complicated confidence game planned and executed with great care (especially an operation implemented by undercover agents to apprehend criminals))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin

Synonyms:

bite; insect bite; sting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sting" is a kind of...):

harm; hurt; injury; trauma (any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sting"):

bee sting (a sting inflicted by a bee)

flea bite (sting inflicted by a flea)

mosquito bite (a sting inflicted by a mosquito)

Derivation:

sting (deliver a sting to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A mental pain or distress

Example:

a pang of conscience

Synonyms:

pang; sting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sting" is a kind of...):

hurting; pain (a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder)

Derivation:

sting (cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung

Example:

he felt the stinging of nettles

Synonyms:

sting; stinging

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("sting" is a kind of...):

hurting; pain (a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder)

Derivation:

sting (cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort)

sting (cause a stinging pain)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous

Example:

I was stung with a huge tax bill

Synonyms:

stick; sting

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "sting" is one way to...):

force; thrust (impose urgently, importunately, or inexorably)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody with something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Deliver a sting to

Example:

A bee stung my arm yesterday

Synonyms:

bite; prick; sting

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sting" is one way to...):

pierce (make a hole into)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sting (a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin)

stinger (a sharp organ of offense or defense (as of a wasp or stingray or scorpion) often connected with a poison gland)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging

Example:

His remark stung her

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "sting" is one way to...):

bruise; hurt; injure; offend; spite; wound (hurt the feelings of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to sting Sue

Derivation:

sting (a mental pain or distress)

stinger (a remark capable of wounding mentally)

stinging (a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort

Example:

The sun burned his face

Synonyms:

bite; burn; sting

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "sting" is one way to...):

ache; hurt; smart (be the source of pain)

Verb group:

burn (feel hot or painful)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sting"):

nettle; urticate (sting with or as with nettles and cause a stinging pain or sensation)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sting (a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung)

stinger (a sharp stinging blow)

stinger (a sharp organ of offense or defense (as of a wasp or stingray or scorpion) often connected with a poison gland)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Cause a stinging pain

Example:

The needle pricked his skin

Synonyms:

prick; sting; twinge

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "sting" is one way to...):

ache; hurt; suffer (feel physical pain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sting"):

prick; prickle (cause a prickling sensation)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sting (a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung)

stinger (a sharp stinging blow)

stinger (a sharp organ of offense or defense (as of a wasp or stingray or scorpion) often connected with a poison gland)

stinging (a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Holmes sprang in his chair as if he had been stung when I read the headlines.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Aluminum acetate is used to treat inflammation, itching, and stinging of the infected skin and promotes healing.

(Aluminum Acetate, NCI Thesaurus)

Toxins from animal bites and stings or from bacterial infections can damage cells, leading to pain and illness.

(3-D gel-nanoparticle device detoxifies blood, NIH)

And as bees cannot live when their stings are broken that was the end of the black bees, and they lay scattered thick about the Woodman, like little heaps of fine coal.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

These insects were as large as partridges: I took out their stings, found them an inch and a half long, and as sharp as needles.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

We humans are useful collaborators to honeyguides because of our ability to subdue stinging bees with smoke and chop open their nest, providing wax for the honeyguide and honey for ourselves.

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Aluminum lactate is used to treat inflammation, itching, and stinging of the infected skin and promotes healing.

(Aluminum Lactate, NCI Thesaurus)

You're all bees without stings, so far as lookin' after the hive goes.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A sensation of stinging or heat, not necessarily accompanied by redness or physical signs of irritation.

(Burning Sensation, NCI Thesaurus)

The half-breed tried to drive him away with the whip; but he paid no heed to the stinging lash, and the man had not the heart to strike harder.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)