wing

English Online Dictionary. What means wing‎? What does wing mean?

English

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 vinge (“wing”), Swedish vinge (“wing”), Icelandic vængur (“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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: wĭng; IPA^(key): /wɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋ

Noun

wing (plural wings)

1. An appendage of an animal's (bird, bat, insect) body that enables it to fly.

2. A fin at the side of a ray or similar fish.
4. (slang) Human arm.
5. (aviation) Part of an aircraft that produces the lift for rising into the air.

6. One of the large pectoral fins of a flying fish.
7. One of the broad, thin, anterior lobes of the foot of a pteropod, used as an organ in swimming.
8. (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.
9. (botany) Either of the two side petals of a papilionaceous flower.
10. A side shoot of a tree or plant; a branch growing up by the side of another.
11. Passage by flying; flight.
12. Limb or instrument of flight; means of flight or of rapid motion.
13. A part of something that is lesser in size than the main body, such as an extension from the main building.
14. One of the longer sides of crownworks or hornworks in fortification.
15. (slang, MLE) Short for prison wing, a cellblock; or prison or doing time by extension.
16. Anything that agitates the air as a wing does, or is put in winglike motion by the action of the air, such as a fan or vane for winnowing grain, the vane or sail of a windmill, the sail of a ship, etc.
17. A protruding piece of material on a menstrual pad to hold it in place and prevent leakage.
18. An ornament worn on the shoulder; a small epaulet or shoulder knot.
19. A cosmetic effect where eyeliner curves outward and ends at a point.
20. A faction of a political movement. Usually implies a position apart from the mainstream center position.
21. An organizational grouping in a military aviation service:
    1. (British) A unit of command consisting of two or more squadrons and itself being a sub-unit of a group or station.
    2. (US) A larger formation of two or more groups, which in turn control two or more squadrons.
22. (British) A panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.
23. (nautical) A platform on either side of the bridge of a vessel, normally found in pairs.
24. (nautical) That part of the hold or orlop of a vessel which is nearest the sides. In a fleet, one of the extremities when the ships are drawn up in line, or when forming the two sides of a triangle.
25. (sports) A position in several field games on either side of the field.

26. (sports) A player occupying such a position, also called a winger
27. (typography, informal, rare) A háček.
29. (theater) One of the unseen areas on the side of the stage in a theatre.
30. (in the plural) The insignia of a qualified pilot or aircrew member.
31. A portable shelter consisting of a fabric roof on a frame, like a tent without sides.
32. On the enneagram, one of the two adjacent types to an enneatype that forms an individual's subtype of his or her enneatype.

Alternative forms

• weng, whing, wyng (all obsolete)

Synonyms

• (panel of a car): fender (US), guard (Australia)
• (sports position): forward
• (U.S. Air Force): delta (U.S. Space Force), garrison (U.S. Space Force)

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

wing (third-person singular simple present wings, present participle winging, simple past and past participle winged or (colloquial) wung)

1. (transitive) To injure slightly (as with a gunshot), especially in the wing or arm.
2. (intransitive) To fly.
3. (transitive, of a building) To add a wing (extra part) to.
4. (transitive) To act or speak extemporaneously; to improvise; to wing it.

5. (transitive) To throw.

   Synonyms: fling, hurl; see also Thesaurus:throw

6. (transitive) To furnish with wings.
7. (transitive) To transport with, or as if with, wings; to bear in flight, or speedily.
8. (transitive) To traverse by flying.

Translations

Anagrams

• Gwin, gwin

Chinese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Onomatopoeic?”)

Pronunciation

Adjective

wing

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang, of person) intoxicated; tipsy

Synonyms

• stone

Middle English

Noun

wing

1. Alternative form of winge

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English wing.

Noun

wing

1. wing

Vilamovian

Pronunciation

Adjective

wing

1. little (by amount)

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English winge, wenge, from Old Norse vængr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiːn/
• Homophone: wyeene

Noun

wing

1. (figurative) cross

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 78