▪ I. stinging, vbl. n.
(ˈstɪŋɪŋ)
Also 5–6 erron. stynkyng(g)e.
[f. sting v.1 + -ing1.]
The action of wounding with a sting; an instance of this.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxvi. (1495) 461 The juys of euery fysshe helpyth agaynst venemouse styngynges. c 1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 184 Ageyns bytynnge or stynkyngge of scorpyons or of serpentes. 1538 Elyot Dict. s.v. Psylli, They also do cure the styngynge and poysonynge of serpentes by soukynge the place whyche is venymed. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 926 Physicians have found out many remedies against the stingings of Wasps. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 98 A good remedy for stinging of nettles. 1832 S. Warren Diary Physic. II. ii. 77 Comparing the pain to that which might follow the incessant stinging of a wasp at the spinal marrow. |
b. transf. and fig.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter lix. 3 Þou dranke vs with wine of stinginge [vino compunctionis]. c 1400 Apol. Loll. (Camden) 29 Bi for þat bats were made in religioun bi stinging of þe fend [Diaboli instinctu]. 1506 Kal. Sheph. (Sommer) 163 Swete wordis with a venemous stynkynge of the tayle. 1579 J. Fielde Calvin's 4 Serm. i. 8 b, The prickes & stingings they haue in their consciences. a 1631 Donne Poems, ‘Goe, and catch a falling starre’ 6 Teach me to heare Mermaides singing, Or to keep off envies stinging. a 1700 Evelyn Diary Sept. 1646, This night I felt such a stinging all about me that I could not sleepe. 1855 Singleton Virgil II. 440 Drances, whom the fame Of Turnus spurred with crooked jealousy, And bitter stingings. |
c. stinging-cell Zool., a nematocyst.
| 1885 Pennington Brit. Zoophytes 138 The stinging or urticating cells, or nematocysts, contain the stinging threads. 1892 J. A. Thomson Outl. Zool. x. 127 On the tentacles [of Hydra] especially, one can see..numerous clumps of clear stinging-cells. |
▪ II. stinging, ppl. a.
(ˈstɪŋɪŋ)
[+ -ing2.]
1. That stings, that has power to sting; used (often as a specific designation) a. of animals. stinging lizard, one of several North American lizards, esp. a spiny lizard of the genus Sceloporus, also called a scorpion.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 82 Iherest tu hu Salomon eueneð bac⁓bitare to stinginde neddre? 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxiii. 28 Stynggynge flies. 1569 Spenser Vis. Petrarch 78 A stinging Serpent by the heele hir caught. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. v. i. 14 Like stinging Bees in hottest Sommers day. 1670 Milton Hist. Brit. i. 21 Swarmes of stinging Flies, whereof men dy'd. 1854 A. Adams etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 228 Stinging-Ants (Myrmicidæ). 1862 T. W. Harris Insects Injur. Vegetation (ed. 3) 513 The stinging Hymenoptera. 1870 J. C. Duval Adventures Big-Foot Wallace xlv. 294 They chaw tobacco and drink whiskey even in the winter⁓time, when the ‘cow-killers’ and stinging-lizards are all frozen up. 1889 H. H. McConnell Five Years a Cavalryman 77 The ‘scorpion’ or ‘stinging lizard’ abounds. 1892 J. A. Thomson Outl. Zool. x. 121 Cœlenterata or Stinging-animals. 1926 J. K. Strecker in J. F. Dobie Rainbow in Morning (1965) 61 The true scorpion is popularly called a ‘stinging lizard’, this misnomer being in common use throughout the state of Texas. |
b. of plants.
| 1525 tr. Brunswyke's Handywork Surg. xcii. R ij b, With water of the styngynge nettylles. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 18 Yeeld stinging Nettles to mine Enemies. 1776 J. Lee Introd. Bot. Explan. Terms 380 Urens, stinging, armed with stings. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. xx. (1852) 464 In the East Indian sea, a stinging sea-weed is said to be found. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1344/2 Stinging-bush, Jatropha stimulans. 1887 Hillhouse Strasburger's Handbk. Pract. Bot. 77 The stinging hairs of the common stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). 1890 C. Lumholtz Cannibals 252 The stinging-tree (Laportea moroides). |
2. transf. That produces a sharp pain or tingling smart, a burning sensation, or the like. Said also of the pain or sensation.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 225 Er þat styngande storme stynt ne myȝt. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 3/4 He hath a verye prickinge and stinginge payne. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 329 Thou shalt be pinch'd As thicke as honycombe, each pinch more stinging Then Bees that made 'em. 1820 Keats Isabella xiv, And many once proud-quiver'd loins did melt In blood from stinging whip. 1825 Scott Betrothed iii, ‘Good ware,’ he said, ‘Master Butler, strong stinging ware.’ 1839 Longfellow Wreck of Hesperus 34 He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat Against the stinging blast. 1862 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (ed. 2) 333 A concentrated acid liquid, which produces a stinging sensation when applied to the skin. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxix. (1878) 505 Fierce showers of stinging hail. 1889 Jessopp in Dict. Nat. Biog. XVII. 230/1 She gave Essex a good stinging blow on the face. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 393 Shooting, darting, or stinging pains. |
3. fig. That causes sharp mental pain or irritation, poignant; that goads or stimulates. Of speech: Biting, pungent.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 294 Þe delit of þe stincgende lust. a 1529 Skelton Agst. Venomous Tongues Wks. I. 134 Malicious tunges..Are sharper then swordes.., More stinging then scorpions. 1567 Turberv. Epit., Epigr. etc. 35 b, Doe thy worst to mee thou stinging spite. 1600 tr. Garzoni's Hosp. Inc. Fooles 96 They studied quicke and stinging sayings, for the sharpning of their wits. 1647 J. Hall Div. Poems ii. 82 How stinging are our sorrowes! a 1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 31 How could he miss of a stinging remembrance of the cheat he had..put upon his own father? 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 541 Eloquent vituperation and stinging sarcasm. 1885 Manch. Exam. 8 May 5/1 Except a stinging rejoinder from Mr. Pember, nothing more was said. |
† 4. Mus. stinging grace = sting-grace: see sting n.2 7, 8. Obs.
| 1676 Mace Musick's Mon. 131 You must Pause, and use the Stinging Grace a Pritty while. |
Hence ˈstingingly adv., ˈstingingness.
| 1667 H. More Div. Dial. ii. xvii. (1713) 142 A Grief..set off more stingingly to us by the more flush and full representations of another's Happiness. 1727 Bailey vol. II, Stingingness, stinging Quality. 1748 T. Smith Jrnl. (1849) 270 Cold, and the year ends stingingly. 1873 Lytton K. Chillingly i. viii, Not exactly in those words—more covertly, and therefore more stingingly. 1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 16 May 11/1 The Government..was stingingly criticised from the Opposition benches. |