Definition Definition

sting - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'sting' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Sting [ v. t.]
- 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.
- 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.
- Anything that gives acute pain, bodily or mental; as, the stings of remorse; the stings of reproach.
- The thrust of a sting into the flesh; the act of stinging; a wound inflicted by stinging.
- A goad; incitement.
- The point of an epigram or other sarcastic saying.
- To pierce or wound with a sting; as, bees will sting an animal that irritates them; the nettles stung his hands.
- To pain acutely; as, the conscience is stung with remorse; to bite.
- To goad; to incite, as by taunts or reproaches.

Meaning of 'sting' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . sting [ n]
Meaning (1):
- a mental pain or distress
Example in sentence:
  • a pang of conscience
Meaning (2):
- a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung
Example in sentence:
  • he felt the stinging of nettles;
  • the sting of death
Meaning (3):
- operation designed to catch a person committing a criminal act
Example in sentence:
  • the police conducted a sting operation
4 . sting [ v]
Meaning (4):
- deliver a sting to
Example in sentence:
  • A bee stung my arm yesterday
Meaning (5):
- cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging
Example in sentence:
  • His remark stung her
Meaning (6):
- saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous
Example in sentence:
  • I was stung with a huge tax bill;
  • They stuck me with the dinner bill
Meaning (7):
- cause a stinging pain
Example in sentence:
  • The needle pricked his skin
Meaning (8):
- cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort
Example in sentence:
  • The sun burned his face