sling
/ˈslɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.34 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To throw with a sling.
verb
To pass a rope around (a cask, gun, etc.) preparatory to attaching a hoisting or lowering tackle.
noun
An instrument for throwing stones or other missiles, consisting of a short strap with two strings fastened to its ends, or with a string fastened to one end and a light stick to the other.
Example Sentences
- "Everyone could sling stones at an hairbreadth, and not miss."
- "slings a broken rock aloft in air"
- "You may know a lot about chemistry, man, but you don't know jack about slinging dope."
- "The Sling is also a weapon of great antiquity, formerly in high estimation among the ancients."
- "At one sling Of thy victorious arm, well-pleasing Son."
- "To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them."
Etymology
From Middle English slynge (noun), slyngen (verb), probably from Old Norse slyngja, slyngva (“to hurl”), from Proto-Germanic *slingwaną (“to worm, twist”) or compare Old English slingan (“to wind, twist”), from the same source. Compare German schlingen (“to swing, wind, twist”), Danish and Norwegian slynge), from Proto-Indo-European *slenk- (“to turn, twist”) (compare Welsh llyngyr (“worms, maggots”), Lithuanian sliñkti (“to crawl like a snake”), Latvian slìkt (“to sink”)).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: slynge, slyngja, *slingwaną, *slenk-