▪ I. bing, n.1
(bɪŋ)
Also 5–6 bynge, 6–7 binge, byng, 7 bingg.
[a. ON. bing-r masc. ‘heap’; cf. Sw. binge masc. ‘heap.’ Da. bing has the sense not of ‘heap,’ but of ‘bin’; and in Eng. bing has also been used dialectally for bin in various senses since the 15th c. In Da. this change can only be explained by transference of the name from a ‘heap’ to the place where a heap is contained; the Eng. use of bing for bin may be partly of Danish origin, but is prob. largely due to phonetic contact of the two words.]
1. A heap or pile: formerly of stones, earth, trees, dead bodies, as well as of corn, potatoes, and the like, as still in northern dial.
| 1513 Douglas æneis iv. ix. 45 Of treis thow big a bing To be a fyre. Ibid. iv. vii. 80 Lyk emetis gret Quhen thai depulȝe the meikle bing of quheit. 1528 Lyndesay Dream ii. 173 The men of Kirk lay boundin into byngis. a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. 529 Like ants when they do spoile the bing of corne. 1787 Burns Brigs of Ayr 27 Potato-bings are snugged up frae skaith Of coming Winter. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss. (E.D.S.), Bing..a heap of potatoes in a field covered with earth: a heap of grain in a barn. |
2. spec. A heap of metallic ore, of alum; a definite quantity (8 cwt.) of lead ore.
| 1815 Encycl. Brit. III. 619 Bing in the alum-works denotes a heap of alum thrown together in order to drain. 1876 Mid Yorks. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Bing, a bing of ore contains eight weighs, a weigh being a hundred weight, Nidd. 1885 Trans. Cumbrld. & Westm. Archæol. Soc. VIII. 19 In one year eighty workmen raised 12,000 bings of ore in this mine. |
b. bing ore (or simply bing): the best lead ore.
| 1679 Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 166 The best [lead-ore] being call'd Bing. 1851 Tapping Manlove's Chron. Gloss., Bing..ore is the Derbyshire mining term for the purer, richer, and cleaner part of the fell or boose. |
3. = bin, in various applications. Now dial.
| c 1325 Metr. Hom. 97 King hafs riueli gold in bing. c 1440 Promp. Parv., Bynge, theca, cumera. 1539 Indent. Berwick Castle in Archæol. XI. 440 In the pantre, a large bynge of okyn tymbar with 3 partitions. 1575 Turberv. Venery 28 Prety little Binges or basketts of woodde to put theyr breade in. 1617 Markham Caval. v. 6 In..the stable shall be placed close binggs or hutches for the keeping of prouender. 1695 Kennett Par. Antiq. Gloss. s.v. Abunda, The Cistern into which they throw their crystallized Allom, for the water to drain from it, is call'd a Bing. 1775 E. Barry Observ. Wines 82 To cover the Bottles in the Bings with Saw-Dust. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-Bk. (E.D.S.), Bing, a place railed off from the cow-house in which fodder is kept. |
4. ‘The kiln of the furnace wherein they burn their Charcoal for the melting of metals.’ Kennett Par. Antiq. 1695.
| 1658 Ray Itin. (1760) 127 Then they carry it [silver ore]..to each Smelter's several Bing, where it is melted with Black and White Coal. 1674 ― Prep. Tin Coll. 123 Throwing on Charcoal, then upon that Black Tin, and so interchangeably into a very deep bing (which they call the house). |
5. Comb. † bing-ale; † bing-brine, brine of a pickling trough; bing-hole (see quot.); bing-place, bing-stead, the place to which the ‘bing’ or round lead ore is brought to be crushed; also, a place for ashes.
| 1735 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.), *Bing-ale, the liquour which the fermor of a parsonage gives to the fermours..when he has gathered their tythe. |
| 1745 W. Thompson R.N. Advoc. (1757) 9 *Bing Brine..composed of the entire Juices of the Flesh and Salt, when boiled..is of a sweet Smell, and quite transparent. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Bing-hole, a hole or shoot through which ore is thrown. |
| 1653 E. Manlove Lead Mines 129 To fine such..as..digg or delve in any Mans *Bing-place. |
| 1747 W. Hooson Miner's Dict. B ij b, *Bingstead, the place where the largest and best of the ore..is thrown. |
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. 198 Cinders are thrown..into a *Bing-stead in the court-yard. |
▪ II. ‖ bing, n.2 Obs.
[Chinese bing, dial. form of ming, the name of a Chinese character often denoting the leaves of the tea-plant, and especially the tender leaves or leaf-buds. Prof. Legge.]
A kind of tea.
| 1701 Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1205 The Bohe..is the very first bud gather'd..The Bingtea is the second growth in April. 1721 Lond. Gaz. No. 5934/3 One Chest Bing per Carnarvan. |
▪ III. bing, n.3 and int. dial. and colloq.
(bɪŋ)
[Echoic, representing a sudden banging noise or blow.]
a. n. A thump or blow. dial. (See E.D.D.) b. int. All of a sudden; in a flash; with a bang.
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 506 Now I do this kind of thing On the wing, on the wing! Bing! 1924 Wodehouse Ukridge iii. 57 Always getting ideas—bing—like a flash. 1925 C. Morley Thunder on Left xi. 140 And then the train..smashes into a lot of people, bing! 1946 Wodehouse Joy in Morning xxix. 264 She looked round and—bing—a pillar of salt. 1959 ‘A. Gilbert’ Death takes Wife xv. 187 Money saved..and then bing! everything vanished into thin air. |
Also bing-bang colloq., an onomatopœic reduplication expressing a repeated heavy thump or a continued banging noise.
| 1914 W. J. Locke Fortunate Youth xiii, Lets 'em have it bing-bang in the eye. Don't he, Jane? 1926 Glasgow Herald 1 Mar. 10 Bing-bang, cling-clang clatter. |
▪ IV. bing, v.1
(bɪŋ)
To pile or put up in a bing.
| 1513 Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 57 The burges byngis in his buith, the broun and the blak. 1822 Blackw. Mag. Dec. (Jam.) The hairst was ower..The 'tatoes bing'd. |
▪ V. bing, v.2 dial.
Also byng.
intr. Of milk: To begin to turn sour, to be on the turn.
| 1867 Harland Lanc. Folk-lore 165 in Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) The milk is bynged or will not churn, though a hot poker has been used to spoil the witchery. [cf.blink.] |
▪ VI. † bing, v.3 Obs.
[Slang. ? Gipsy.]
intr. To go.
| 1567 Harman Caueat 84 Bynge a waste, go you hence. 1609 Dekker Lanth. & Candle-Lt. Wks. 1884–5 III. 198 And bing we to Rome vile. 1652 Brome Jov. Crew iv. ii. 431 Bing awast, bing awast. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxviii, ‘Bing out and tour, ye auld devil.’ 1822 ― Nigel xxiii, ‘You shall be carted for bawd..and bing off to Bridewell.’ |