sting

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung
  2. noun a mental pain or distress
  3. noun a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin

Etymology

From Middle English styng, sting, stynge, stenge, from Old English sting, stincg (“a sting, stab, thrust made with a pointed instrument; the wound made by a stab or sting”), from Proto-Germanic *stingaz; possibly also from Old English stynġ, from Proto-Germanic *stungiz.

In classic literature

Synonyms

stinging

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