wing
/wɪŋ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms wings winging winged wung weng whing wyng
- noun (zootomy) An appendage of an animal's (bird, bat, insect) body that enables it to fly. “The bird was flapping its wings”
- noun A fin at the side of a ray or similar fish.
- noun (slang) Human arm.
- noun (aviation) Part of an aircraft that produces the lift for rising into the air. “I took my seat on the plane, overlooking the wing.”
- noun One of the large pectoral fins of a flying fish.
- noun One of the broad, thin, anterior lobes of the foot of a pteropod, used as an organ in swimming.
- noun (botany) Any membranaceous expansion, such as that along the sides of certain stems, or one of the bracts on a dragon fruit, or of a fruit of the kind called samara.
- noun (botany) Either of the two side petals of a papilionaceous flower.
- verb (transitive) To injure slightly (as with a gunshot), especially in the wing or arm.
- verb (intransitive) To fly.
- verb (intransitive) To travel swiftly.
- verb (transitive, of a building) To add a wing (extra part) to.
- verb (transitive) To act or speak extemporaneously; to improvise; to wing it. “I lost all my notes I'd made, so was partially winging the meeting.”
- verb (transitive) To throw.
- verb (transitive) To furnish with wings.
- verb (transitive) To transport with, or as if with, wings; to bear in flight, or speedily.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A large village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, previously in Aylesbury Vale district (OS grid ref SP8822).
- proper noun A village and civil parish in Rutland, England (OS grid ref SK8903).
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Covington County, Alabama, United States.
Synonyms
fender guard forward delta garrison fling hurl bung cast chuck chunk cook dash dump feck jerk heave hield hoy huck offstage backstage flank annex annexe extension fly
Etymology
From Middle English winge, wenge, from Old Norse vængr ("wing of a flying animal, wing of a building"; compare vængi (“ship's cabin”)), from Proto-Germanic *wēingijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”), thus related to wind.
Cognate with Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish vinge (“wing”), Elfdalian waingg (“wing”), Faroese vongur (“wing”), Icelandic vængur (“wing”), Norwegian Nynorsk veng (“wing”).
Replaced native Middle English fither (from Old English fiþre, from Proto-Germanic *fiþriją), which merged with Middle English fether (from Old English feþer, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō). More at feather.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the two anterior limbs of a bird, pterodactyl, or bat. They correspond to the arms of man, and are usually modified for flight, but in the case of a few species of birds, as the ostrich, auk, etc., the wings are used only as an assistance in running or swimming.
- noun Any similar member or instrument used for the purpose of flying.
- verb To furnish with wings; to enable to fly, or to move with celerity.
- verb To supply with wings or sidepieces.
Etymology [OE. winge, wenge; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. & Sw. vinge, Icel. vængr.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wing”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details