| 释义 |
▪ I. sting, n.1 Sc. and north.|stɪŋ|
Forms: 1 stæng, (-ncg), 1, 4 steng, (1 -ncg, -ngc, -nc, -gn); 5 steyng, 5–6 steing; 1, 5–6 styng, 5– sting.
[OE. stęng masc.: see stang n.1]
1. a. A pole, staff.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 450 Claua, steng [Epinal stegn, Erfurt stęng]. a900O.E. Martyrol. 8 Aug. 142 Þa het se dema hi nacode gebindan to anum stenge ond hi bærnan mid fyre. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (John Baptist) 850 His harme..stud strekit þare a hyldry steng as it ware. 1508Dunbar Poems vi. 100 Et duos rusticos de rure Berand a barell on a styng. 1513Douglas æneis iii. ix. 87 With ane scharpit and brint sting of tre, Out did we boir and pyke his mekle E. 1571Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) I. 361, ij styngs for ye wayne xd. 1580Shipping List of Dundee in D. Wedderburne's Compt. Bk. etc. (S.H.S.) 198 Sex thousand steingis. 1643Orkney Witch Trial in Abbotsf. Club Miscell. I. 177 If it war the dead manis sting which trublit him, it wold cuir and heale him. 1703in W. Maitland Hist. Edin. (1753) 329 Twentie four Sayes, and threttie sex Stings with Knags, whereof sex standing full of Water, and the Stings hanging by them, [etc.]. 1724in Cramond Ann. Banff (1893) II. 219 For a sting to drive the oxen, 1s. Sc.
b. A pole or staff or club used as a weapon; the shaft of a pike or spear. Often staff and sting.
a900O.E. Martyrol. 20 Jan. 27 Þa het he hine mid stengum þyrscan. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 47 Fustibus, stencgum [c 975 Rushw. stængum]. a1300Cursor M. 24029 (Edin.) Þai draw him forþ e with staf and steng. c1470Henryson Mor. Fab., Fox, Wolf & Cadger 151 That had not in my hand sa mekle gude, As staf or sting, ȝone truker for to strike. c1470Henry Wallace ii. 49 Vpon the hed ane with the steing hitt he. 1513Douglas æneis ix. viii. 126 The Troianis..dang thame down with pikkis and poyntit styngis. 1535Stewart Cron. (Rolls) II. 96 With staf and sting syne slew richt mony ane. 1550Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 254 Bot thair wes daylie skirmishing, Quhair men of armis brak monie sting. 1590–91Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 587 With thair lance stalffis and stingis [they] gave him divers bauch, blaa and bludie straikis.
c. (to carry) with or by sting and ling [? line n.2]: with a rope suspended from a pole borne on two or more persons' shoulders. Also sting and ling (without prep.); also fig. = bodily, by force.
1571R. Bannatyne Jrnl. (1806) 130 He..was borne up with sex workmen with sting and ling, and Mr. Robert Maitland haulding up his heid. 1615Chron. Perth in R. Chambers Dom. Ann. Scot. (1858) I. 453 Upon Fasten's E'en there was twa puncheons of Bourdeaux wine carriet, sting and ling, on men's shoulders, on the ice, at the mids of the North Inch. 1816Scott Antiq. xliv, He..never intended to look near the place again, unless he had been brought there sting and ling. 1883Martine Reminisc. Haddington 143 Cut figures of two brewer's men, in antique dress, carrying a barrel of ale ‘Sting and Ling’.
2. A pointed instrument used in thatching.
1808Jamieson. 1815Notes to Pennecuik's Descr. Tweeddale 88 (Jam.) The thatch..is thrust into holes previously made obliquely upwards in the divots by an iron-shod, dove-tailed-pointed hand instrument, called a sting. 1893–4Northumb. Gloss.
3. Aeronaut. A rod-like support used in wind-tunnel testing (see quot. 1933).
1933Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) III. 20 Sting, a light rod attached to and extending backwards from a body for convenience of mounting for test in a wind tunnel. 1948Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LII. 240/1 In this work the model was supported from the rear by means of a sting. 1959Engineering 6 Feb. 188/1 The model support consists of a quadrant and sting.
4. Comb., as sting-burden, sting-lift, sting-man, † sting-sowel; † stingis-dint, a fine for an assault with a stick.
1701in J. Bulloch Pynours (1887) 73 Crews for caryeing *sting burdens.
1153–95Carta Hugonis in Boldon Bk. etc. (Surtees) p. xlii, In burgo non debet blodwite nec merchete nec heriot nec *stengesdint [printed -duit] exigi. 14..Burgh Lawis xvii. in Anc. Laws Scot. (Burgh Rec. Soc.) 10 Quod infra burgum non debet exaudiri blodewit nec styngis⁓dynt nec merchet.
1701in J. Bulloch Pynours (1887) 74 Each *Sting lift caried by two men is to pay the double of ane back burden.
1554Extracts Burgh Rec. Edin. (1871) II. 313 To vj *stingmen of the town to beir thir foirsaids stanis furth of the querrellis viijs. 1583Ibid. (1882) IV. 303 The persouns vnderwrittin to be polkmen and stingmen and metters vpoun the said schoir.
1235–52Rentalia Glaston. (Somerset Rec. Soc.) 88, j palum quem vocant *sting soghles.
▪ II. sting, n.2|stɪŋ|
Forms: 1 stincg, 4 Kent. steng, 5–6 stynge, 5–7 stinge, 1, 5–6 styng, 1, 4, 6– sting.
[f. sting v.1
It is possible that two words from the root of the vb. have coalesced: OE. sting:—prehist. *stingo-z and OE. styng (Kentish ME. steng):—*stungi-z (= OHG. stung). A dial. form stinge |stindʒ| appears to represent yet another formation, OE. *stęnge or *stęngea. Cf. Norw. styng masc., prick, sting.]
1. a. The act of stinging. b. The fact or effect of being stung; the wound inflicted by the aculeus of an insect, the telson of a scorpion, the fang of an adder, etc.; the pain or smart of such a wound.
c900Bæda's Hist. ii. ix. (1890) 123 Næfde he scyld æt honda, þæt he þone cyning mid scyldan meahte: sette þa his lichoman betweoh beforan þam stynge. a950Guthlac (Prose) xvi, Þa besloh se þorn on þone fot, and swa strang wæs se sting þæs þornes, þæt he eode þurh þone fot. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 272 Wið scorpiones stincg ᵹenim þas ylcan wyrte..leᵹe to ðam stinge. c1315Shoreham Poems iv. 86 Þe wonde swelþ an akeþ, So doþ þe naddre steng. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 325 Their softest Touch, as smart as Lyzards stings. 1636Marmion Antiquary iv. (1641) G 4, Why did you send this serpent to my bosome, To pierce me through with greater cruelty, Than Cleopatra felt from stings of Adders? 1748Anson's Voy. ii. viii. 217 A most mischievous serpent..whose sting they believed to be inevitable death. 1865Hardwicke's Sci.-Gossip 1 July 166/1, I am told by fishermen that many instances are known of persons losing the use of a hand by this sting [sc. of the weever-fish]. 1875Ruskin Hortus Inclusus (1887) 33 The pang of a nice deep wasp sting.
c. The smart or irritation produced by touching a nettle or similar plant.
1878T. F. Thiselton-Dyer Engl. Folk-lore 172 To cure the sting of a nettle, the person stung must [etc.]. 1884R. Folkard Jun. Plant Lore 313 It is a common practice..for anyone suffering from the stings of a Nettle to apply a cold Dock-leaf to the inflamed spot.
2. A sharp-pointed organ in certain insects and other animals (e.g. bees, wasps, scorpions) capable of inflicting a painful or dangerous wound. Applied also to the fang or venom-tooth (and erroneously to the forked tongue) of a poisonous serpent.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. v. (1495) 414 Many males of been ben wythout stinges. 1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §122 It is a sayenge that she [the drone] hath loste her stynge, and than she wyl not labour as the other do. 1530Palsgr. 276/1 Styng of a serpent or any other venomous beest, esguillon. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 15 Her huge long taile..Pointed with mortall sting. Ibid. i. i. 23 A cloud of combrous gnattes do him molest, All striuing to infixe their feeble stings. c1611Chapman Iliad iii. 32 A serpent..Her blew necke (swolne with poison) raisd, and her sting out. 1697Dryden Virg. Ecl. iii. 145 Beware the secret Snake that shoots a Sting. 1726Swift Gulliver ii. iii, I took out their stings, found them an inch and a half long, and as sharp as needles. 1861Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. v. ii. 276 When not in use, the sting [of the bee] is completely enclosed in the abdomen.
3. Bot. A stiff sharp-pointed tubular hair, which emits an irritating fluid when touched. † Also applied to a thorn.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 62 b, The Thorn tree is armed about with Dart and sting. 1578Lyte Dodoens iv. lxiv. 526 White Cotton Thistel... The stalke is great & thicke set full of prickley stings. 1597Middleton Wisd. Solomon iv. 4 The nettle hath a sting, the rose a thorn. 1857Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 23 The sting of the Nettle is a tubular hair.
4. A spike used for driving cattle.
1833Tennyson Pal. Art 150 The people here, a beast of burden slow, Toil'd onward, prick'd with goads and stings.
5. a. In many fig. uses; e.g. an acute pain or sharp wound inflicted on the mind or heart; something which (or that element in anything which) inflicts acute pain; the ‘point’ of an epigram or sarcasm; something which goads to action or appetite, a sharp stimulus or incitement. Also in phr. a sting in the tail and varr.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3909 Yf..fortunes stynge hym ouerthwerte. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. xv. 56 The stynge of deeth is synne. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1598) 367 The renewed sting of iealosie. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 188 Freize, freize, thou bitter skie..thy sting is not so sharpe, as freind remembred not. 1601― All's Well iii. iv. 18 Ah what sharpe stings are in her mildest words! 1603― Meas. for M. i. iv. 59 One, who neuer feeles The wanton stings, and motions of the sence. c1611Chapman Iliad xiii. 233 Be assur'd, my spirite needs no stings To this hote conflict. 1657in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 52 His letter to you I hope will be full of douceur with out a stinge at the tayle of it. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 326 Too soon they must not feel the Stings of Love. 1713Addison Cato i. i, Portius, no more! your words leave stings behind 'em. 1770Langhorne Plutarch, Marcellus II. 399 This [result of an ambuscade] added stings to Marcellus's desire of an engagement. 1818Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) I. 67 The sting of taxation is wastefulness. c1820Blake On Homer's Poetry in Compl. Writings (1972) 778 Those who will have Unity exclusively in Homer come out with a Moral like a sting in the tail. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Pop. Fallacies xii, The innocent prattle of his children takes out the sting of a man's poverty. 1842Macaulay Fredk. Gt. Ess. 1851 II. 672 For that end it was necessary that Prussia should be all sting. 1849― Hist. Eng. vi. II. 129 They never worked till they felt the sting of hunger. 1926Times 7 Sept. 17/5 The sting of this book is in its tail. 1952A. Christie They do it with Mirrors 192 Don't say it. I'm suspicious of these village parallels. They've always got a sting in the tail. 1979A. Williamson Funeral March for Siegfried xxxii. 165 He..added a sting in the tail. ‘Of course, if the murderer were one of you, an interloper would not be necessary.’
b. In generalized sense: Stinging quality, capacity to sting or hurt; a (specified) degree or amount of this. Freq. in phr. to take the sting out of (something).
1860Bailey's Mag. Oct. 42 Hayward's..rare defence completely took the sting out of the Surrey bowling. 1863Lillywhite's Cricket Scores III. 74 He..often took the ‘sting’ out of the bowling, by getting his runs remarkably slow. 1876Trevelyan Macaulay vii. II. 4 This passage, as it now stands, has been deprived of half its sting. 1893‘Q.’ (Quiller-Couch) Delect. Duchy 342 The firemen..robbed the epigram of all its sting. 1896Daily News 29 June 7/2 When once collared the Yorkshire bowling lacks sting. 1900J. G. Frazer Golden Bough (ed. 2) III. 92 To give more sting to every blow the whip-lashes are knotted. 1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 24 It has taken the sting out of the Adjutant. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xix. 157, I was so happy I cried. People like Lena took the sting out of other little people. 1977Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXV. 464/1 This defence consists in establishing..that the derogatory words—or at least their sting—were true.
c. Austral. slang. (a) Strong drink, ‘stingo’; (b) a drug, spec. one administered to a racehorse in the form of an injection.
1929K. S. Prichard Coonardoo 60 ‘Misses his three square meals a day and sting,’ Bob explained. 1949L. Glassop Lucky Palmer 36 They're going to give it the sting. They'll hit it with enough dope to win a Melbourne Cup. 1958F. Hardy Four-Legged Lottery 173 The ‘smarties’ soon found stings that didn't show on a swab. 1972J. de Hoog Skid Row Dossier 4 You can share a bottle of sting (methylated spirits) down a lane.
d. slang (chiefly U.S., orig. Criminals'). (a) A burglary or other act of theft, fraud, etc., esp. one that is carefully planned in advance and swiftly executed; (b) a police undercover operation designed to ensnare criminals.
1930Liberty 20 Sept. 77/1 The hustlers would sit around planning their stings and I guess about half of the jobs pulled in southern Ohio that year started in my parlor. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 76 The sting we described involved a wallet obviously on its feet. 1975Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 11 Mar. 6/8 A transaction between a jewellery salesman and a professed buyer with $230,000 in his pocket was intercepted yesterday by a cab driver who made off with the cash. Investigators believe the theft was a set-up ‘sting’. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 13 Mar. 6/3 The Sting also produced leads to three murders and several other unsolved major crimes. 1977Tel. (Brisbane) 24 Aug. 25/2 ‘Sting’ officers operated in old warehouses and run-down storefronts, developed close contacts with loose-lipped thugs who believe they dealt with fellow criminals. 1982Sunday Times 14 Nov. 15/2 The Miami ‘sting’ was so well set up that it survived a remarkable breach of security. 1983Observer 30 Jan. 10/2 His second reaction was to inform the American authorities and get their approval for an elaborate and costly ‘sting’.
6. The tapering point of a pointer's tail. Cf. sting-tail (a) in sense 8.
1872T. Pearce Dog 119 The genuine sort [of Pointers] has a tail thick at the root, and gradually tapering to an absolute point or ‘sting.’ Ibid. 122 At last we have seen the sting of her fine stern above the rushes.
†7. Mus. = sting-grace in sense 8. Obs.
1676Mace Musicks Mon. 109 The Sting, is another very Neat, and Pritty Grace; (But not Modish in These Days).
8. Comb., as sting-proof adj.; sting-bull, the greater weever, Trachinus draco; sting-fish, (a) the lesser weever, Trachinus vipera; (b) the sea-scorpion, Cottus scorpius; † sting-free a., exempt from, or proof against, being stung; † sting-grace Mus., a particular tremolo effect in lute-playing; sting-moth, the Australian moth, Doratifera vulnerans, the larva of which is able to sting; sting-nettle, Urtica dioica and other species; sting-tail, (a) a tail tapering to a point, as in the pointer (cf. 6); (b) U.S. = sting-ray; sting-tailed a., having a sting in the tail (also fig.); sting-winkle (see quot.); † sting-worm, ? a worm supposed to sting cattle (cf. taint-worm). Also sting ray.
1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 20 The Great Weever, *Sting-bull, Sea Cat.
Ibid. I. 25 Lesser Weever, Otter-pike, *Sting-fish. 1863Couch Fishes Brit. Isl. II. 8 Sting-fish..Cottus Scorpius.
1644S. Kem Messengers Prepar. 27 Nothing can arme death to hurt us but sin, otherwise thou art hard, *sting-free. 1658Rowland Moufet's Theatr. Ins. 907 If you would indeed resolve to go sting-free, or at least heal your self being stung.
1676Mace Musick's Mon. 126 Those Three Notes also to have the *Sting-Grace.
1863Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 537 *Sting-moth, Doratifera vulnerans.
1822–7Good Study Med. (1829) V. 132 Both *sting-nettles and flagellations..are said to have worked wonders. 1869Blackmore Lorna D. vii, I rubbed them [my toes] well with a sprout of young sting-nettle.
1886H. P. Wells Amer. Salmon Fisherm. 85 Kid gloves are *sting-proof.
1872T. Pearce Idstone Papers iii. 30 That pointer, with his graceful lines, *sting-tail, and polished coat. 1881Ingersoll Oyster-Industr. (Hist. Fish. Industr. U.S.) 249 Sting-tail.—The sting-ray, Dasybatis centrura. (New York.)
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xxiv. §104 Those *sting-tailed Locusts, arising with foggy smoake from the bottomlesse pit. 1905Q. Rev. Jan. 30 Sting-tailed witticisms.
1851Woodward Mollusca 106 Murex Erinaceus..is called ‘*sting-winkle’ by fishermen, who say it makes round holes in the other shell-fish with its beak.
1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 134 b, If he [a bullock] swell of the Taint, or *Stingworme, geue him Vrine, Salt & Tryacle to drinke.
▪ III. sting, v.1|stɪŋ|
Pa. tense and pple. stung |stʌŋ|. Forms: inf. 1 stingan, stincgan, 3 stincgen, 3–6 stingen, 4–5 styngen, -yn, 3–6 stinge, 4–6 stynge, 5 styngge, 6 styng, 3– sting. imp. sing. 3 sting, stink. pa. tense 1–7, 8–9 dial. stang, 3–6 stong, (5 stoong), 6– stung; pl. 1 stungon, 2–3 Orm. stungenn, 3 stounge(n, 3–4 stungen, 3–5 stonge, stongen; weak 6–7, 9 dial. stinged, 9 dial. stunged. pa. subj. 3rd sing. 2–3 stunge. pa. pple. 1–4 stungen, 2–3 istungen, Orm. -stungenn, 3 istunge, 4–5 stungyn, 4–6 stunge, 6– stung; 3–5 ystonge(n, istonge, (3 istounge, 4 ystonnge, stoungen), 3–6 stongen, (4 stangen, 5 stonken), 6 stonge, stongue, stoung, 6–7 stong; weak 5–6 stynged, -yd, 6–7, 9 dial. stinged.
[OE. stingan str. vb. corresponds to ON. stinga, pa. tense stakk, pl. stungu, pa. pple. stungenn (Sw., Norw. stinga, Da. stinge) to stick, stab, pierce, f. Teut. root *steŋg-: *staŋg-: *stuŋg- to pierce, whence stang n.1 and v.1 (A Gothic imperative us-stagg, occurring only once, is commonly regarded as a mistake for *us-stigg, and as belonging to the verb = OE. stingan; this, however, is not certain, as the Goth. vb. may have been of the reduplicating conjugation, with pres.-stem from the a grade of the root.)
The pre-Teut. root *steŋgh-, according to some scholars, is found in Gr. στάχυς (:—*stŋghus) ear of corn.]
†1. trans. To pierce with a sharp-pointed weapon or instrument. (Cf. through-sting v.) Phr. to sting to death. Obs.
993Battle of Maldon 128 He mid gare stang wlancne wicing. c1205Lay. 27597 Boccus mid his spere stronge Bedver hafde istunge. a1300Cursor M. 26018 Wit thorn, glaiue, nail,..Wit quilk þat crist for us was stongen. c1315Shoreham ii. 116 A kniȝt wyþ one scharpe spere Stang hyne iþe ryȝt syde. 13..K. Alis. 3717 (Laud MS.), He..smyteþ a Duk arabian..And to þe deþ haþ hym stunge. c1394P. Pl. Crede 553 Þei ben y-sewed wiþ whiȝt silk & semes full queynte, Y-stongen wiþ stiches þat stareþ as siluer. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 5000 Thurgh the bodie he him stoong. c1440Promp. Parv. 290/2 Lawncyn, or stynge wythe a spere, or blode yryne, lanceo. 1470–85Malory Arthur xxi. x. 855 There was laementacyon as they had be stungyn wyth sperys.
2. a. ‘To pierce or wound with a point darted out, as that of wasps or scorpions’ (J.). Said also of venomous serpents and some other animals which inflict sharp or poisonous wounds. Phr. to sting to death; also to sting to the quick (now rare in literal sense: see 5).
c888ælfred Boeth. xxxi. §2 Swa swa seo beo sceal losian þonne heo hwæt irringa stingð. 1200Ormin 17441 Þa neddress þatt stungenn þe menn. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3896 Ðor-fore hem cam wrim-kin among, ðat hem wel bitterlike stong. c1290S. Eng. Leg. 206/232 Þe Crapoudes..stoungen heom þoruȝ heore heortene with heore foule wrottes grete. 13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 759 The adder so the grehound stang. 1470–85Malory Arthur xxi. iv. 845 An adder..stonge a knyght on the foot & whan the knyght felte hym stongen [etc.]. 1530Palsgr. 736/1, I wene this adder hath styngyd me. 1578Lyte Dodoens v. xxv. 584 Good to be dronken of them which are stongue with Bees and Waspes. 1587R. Crompton Short Decl. End Traytors D iij b, Some times they were stinged to death, with fierie Serpents of straunge kind. 1630True Trav. John Smith xxvii. 58 Stung neere to death with a most poysoned taile of a fish called Stingray. c1662in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 262 Little flyes which sting our hands and faces. 1726[see quick n.1 4.]. 1849Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 76 Stung by a wasp. 1878Hardy Ret. Native iv. vii, Stung by an adder.
absol.a1225Ancr. R. 206 Þe scorpiun..stingeð mid te teile. c1394P. Pl. Crede 648 Þer is no waspe in þis werlde þat will wilfulloker styngen. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 73 With doubler tongue Then thine (thou serpent) neuer Adder stung. 1895P. Hemingway Out of Egypt ii. 188 He flung the truth from him as one might fling a viper that had stung.
b. To insert (venom) by stinging. nonce-use.
1648Winyard Midsummer-Moon 2 His skull is a meer nest of hornets, which sting into him their own waspishnesse.
c. transf. and fig. To inflict a sharp or mortal hurt upon. (Cf. sense 1.)
a1400St. Alexius 1017 (MS. Laud 622) Deþ! why nyltou me stynge? c1495Epitaph Dk. Bedford in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 392 Thou, dolorous Deth, to the herte hast him stynged [rimes with reuenged]. 1559Mirr. Mag., Henry Percy iv, I had a son which so the Scottes did sting, That being yong, and but a very spring Syr Henry Hotspur they gaue him to name. a1653Binning Sinner's Sanct. xxviii. Wks. (1735) 313 He suffered Death to sting him, and by this hath taken the Sting from it. 1878Jefferies Gamekeeper at Home ix. 194 Two fired,..‘stinging’ one man in the leg. 1883Daily News 20 Sept. 6/7 The little vessel..taking her chance of stinging or demoralising the enemy.
†d. slang. To rob or cheat. Obs.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Sting, to rob or defraud a person or place is called stinging them, as, that cove is too fly; he has been stung before; meaning that man is upon his guard; he has already been trick'd. 1823Egan Grose's Dict. Vulgar T.
e. to sting (someone) for (something): to induce (someone) to give (money, etc.) by begging or borrowing in an exploitative manner. slang (orig. U.S.).
1903Kansas City Daily Star 21 Apr. 6/7 An undergraduate is no longer ‘stuck’ for a dinner, a seat at a play, a railroad ticket; he is ‘stung’. 1940N. Marsh Surfeit of Lampreys (1941) ii. 34 We hope to sting Uncle G. for two thousand [pounds]. 1973Wodehouse Bachelors Anonymous iii. 26 He wants to make a touch... He even stung me for a bit the other day. 1976P. Cave High Flying Birds iv. 46 You still letting that bum sting you for drinks?
f. To swindle or overcharge (someone); to involve (someone) in financial loss. Freq. in pass. Cf. sense 2 d. slang (orig. U.S.).
1905[see bundle n. 2 h]. 1922S. Lewis Babbitt iii. 27 Guess I'll have to get down to the office now and sting a few clients. 1923Daily Mail 22 Jan. 8 [He] told me..he stood to lose some enormous number of millions of marks if Germany went phut... He seemed hurt when I said I was very glad if he got stung for trading with the enemy. 1927Wodehouse Small Bachelor vii. 121 ‘How much did you pay?’ ‘Three hundred dollars.’ ‘You were stung... The stock is so much waste paper.’ 1943K. Tennant Ride on Stranger vii. 62 In this world you've got to sting or get stung. 1955M. Allingham Beckoning Lady v. 82 You sting 'em when the time comes. 1974‘E. Lathen’ Sweet & Low xi. 108 Big names do not like getting stung. 1981London Mag. July 15 I've no idea how much her son pays her... I like to think she's really stinging her son.
3. a. Of certain plants, etc.: To produce by contact a kind of rash or inflammation, accompanied with a burning sensation and itching, in (a person's skin). Also absol. (cf. stinging ppl. a.).
1548Elyot's Dict. s.v. Compungo, Ye must beware that he bee not stounge with a nettle. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Compungo, He is stinged with a nettel. 1583B. Melbancke Philotimus C iij, Play with the nettle neuer soe nimbly & it will sting thee. 1665G. Harvey Disc. Plague (1673) 133 A pricking of the intire skin, as if stung with Nettles. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. xx. (1879) 464, I was a good deal surprised by finding two species of coral..possessed of the power of stinging. 1882J. Smith Dict. Pop. Names Plants 392 Lobed leaves, covered..with stiff hairs,..which sting fearfully. 1898E. C. E. Lückes Gen. Nursing x. (1900) 129 The discomfort of the mustard stinging in little patches is thus prevented.
b. refl. To get stung. colloq.
1663Tuke Adv. Five Hours i. 14 I've touch'd a Nettle, and have stung my self.
4. transf. To affect with a tingling pain, a burning sensation, or the like.
1615Chapman Odyss. xiii. 128 As..foure braue horse Before a Chariot, stung into their course With feruent lashes of the smarting Scourge. a1628F. Grevil Life Sidney xii. (1652) 149 He judiciously observing the pangs his wound stang him with by fits. 1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. xi, His whole person put in chancery, stung, bruised, [etc.]. 1878C. Stanford Symb. Christ vii. 186 When stung by a spark of fire we start in agony.
b. absol. (Cf. stinging ppl. a.)
1735Somerville Chase iv. 423 With quick Sensation now The fuming Vapour stings. 1881C. M. Yonge Lads & Lasses Langley ii. 64 ‘Well, it don't sting like the other,’ said Frank,..as if he thought stinging a good quality in beer. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxxix, He felt the curling lash..come stinging round his body.
5. fig. To affect with a sudden sharp mental pain or an access of painful emotion or irritation; to drive to or into (rage, madness, etc.) by some sharp passion or vexation; to goad or stimulate to or into (action).
c1386Chaucer Pard. T. 85 Thanne wol I stynge hym with my tonge smerte. a1400–50Wars Alex. 667 Oft storbis me þi statour & stingis me ȝerne Þat þi personale proporcion sa party is to myne. 1537Starkey Let. to the King in Life & Lett. (1878) p. l, The dethe of them wych suffryd in the cause hathe so stonge hys hart. 1600Weakest goeth to Wall B 4, I am so stung with this indignitie. a1602W. Perkins Cases Consc. (1619) 64 Their great and capitall sins, that stinged and wounded their consciences. 1700Dryden Pal. & Arc. 234 Scarce had he seen, but, seiz'd with sudden Smart, Stung to the Quick, he felt it at his Heart. 1726[see quick n.1 4]. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxiv, Little villany can at any time get within the soul, and sting it into rage. 1769Junius Lett. xxix. 133 A man may be quite indifferent about one part of a charge, yet severely stung with another. 1787Generous Attachment I. 136 Mrs. Penelope..stung with curiosity, came in. 1836Penny Cycl. V. 290/1 Stung to madness by defeat. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. vii, This poor Legislative, spurred and stung into action by a whole France. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 224 The jurymen themselves were stung by remorse when they thought over what they had done. 1864Burton Scot Abr. I. iv. 177 Mary stung the dowager occasionally with her sarcastic tongue. 1891F. H. Williams Atman vi. 296 The torrent of his thoughts and fears..stinging him to effort.
absol.1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iv. ii. (1769) 77 The spleen, tint honour, and affronted pride, Stang like the sharpest goads in gentry's side. 1748Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes 119 Remember'd folly stings. 1859Boyd Recreat. Country Parson vi. 211 Further brooding over the subject would only vex and sting and do no good.
6. intr. To feel sharp pain or distress; to smart. Of a wound or sore: To shoot or throb with pain.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxi, The groans of a person stinging under defeat. 1856P. Thompson Hist. Boston 725 Stang, or Sting (to), to throb, with great pain. 191219th Cent. Nov. 1015 The West [of U.S.A.] was stinging with want.
▪ IV. sting, v.2 Sc. and north.|stɪŋ|
Also (midl. dial.) stinge |stɪndʒ|.
[f. sting n.1; the variation in pronunciation is normal, as the n. has an umlaut-vowel.]
trans. To thatch or repair thatch with a ‘sting’ or pointed tool.
1707in Lady G. Baillie's Househ. Bk. (S.H.S.) p. lxiv, For 85 threve oat stra crop 1707 {at} 6s. to sting the house, {pstlg}2. 2s. 6d. 1710Ibid. 238. 1815 Pennecuik's Wks. 89 (E.D.D.) Heath is neither sewed nor stinged. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Stinge, to repair thatched buildings by driving up the old thatch, and pushing in the new halm by means of the stinger. 1876Whitby Gloss., Sting in, to tuck in with a ‘stinging-prod’ [defined as ‘a long iron point’]. 1881Leicester Gloss., Stinge. 1893–4Northumb. Gloss., Sting.
▪ V. sting
obs. f. stink v. |