FluentPlex

sting

/ˈstɪŋ/ verb C2
  1. To hurt, usually by introducing poison or a sharp point, or both.
  2. To puncture with the stinger. (transitive) · A mosquito stung me on the arm.
  3. To hurt, to be in pain (physically or emotionally). (figuratively, intransitive) · My eyes are stinging from the chopped onions.· My hand stings after knocking on the door so long.
  4. To cause harm or pain to. (figuratively) · I thought I could park in front of the hotel, but they stung me for five pounds!

He/she/it stings · Past stung · Past participle stung · -ing form stinging

+ Save to review

Verb forms

Base form
sting
He/she/it
stings
Past
stung
Past participle
stung
-ing form
stinging

An irregular verb: learn its past and past participle by heart.

From the library

He is said to have about seven lawsuits upon his hands at present, which will probably swallow up the remainder of his fortune and so draw his sting and leave him harmless for the future.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, p. 98 · C1
“Take out my straw and scatter it over the little girl and the dog and the Lion,” he said to the Woodman, “and the bees cannot sting them.” This the Woodman did, and as Dorothy lay close beside the Lion and held Toto in her arms, the straw covered them entirely.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, p. 81 · B2
The bees came and found no one but the Woodman to sting, so they flew at him and broke off all their stings against the tin, without hurting the Woodman at all.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, p. 81 · B2
The Viper, turning about, stung him, and falling into a swoon, the man said to himself, “Woe is me!
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, p. 77 · B2

Other matches

Learn sting in real texts

With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.

Create free account
Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.