Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A drink consisting of brandy, whiskey, or gin, sweetened and usually lemon-flavored.
  • noun A weapon consisting of a looped strap in which a stone is whirled and then let fly.
  • noun A slingshot.
  • noun A looped rope, strap, or chain for supporting, cradling, or hoisting something, especially.
  • noun A band suspended from the neck to support an injured arm or hand.
  • noun A length of fabric worn on the body for carrying an infant.
  • noun A strap of a shoe that fits over the heel.
  • noun A strap used to carry a rifle over the shoulder.
  • noun Nautical A rope or chain that attaches to the mast and supports a yard.
  • noun The act of hurling something.
  • transitive verb To hurl with a sling.
  • transitive verb To throw or fling.
  • transitive verb To move by means of a sling; raise or lower in a sling.
  • transitive verb To place in a hanging or supported position.
  • idiom (slings and arrows) Difficulties or hardships.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A harness consisting of a wide girth with breast-strap and breeching, suspended from a ceiling, for supporting invalid horses in a standing position.
  • noun A suspending chain or rope for carrying a movable platform for the use of repairers or painters.
  • noun Toddy with nutmeg grated on the surface. See gin-sling.
  • To throw; fling; hurl.
  • To fling or throw with a jerk, with or as with a sling. See sling, n., 1.
  • To hang or suspend loosely or so as to swing: as, to sling a pack on one's back; to sling a rifle over one's shoulder.
  • To place in slings in order to hoist; move or swing by a rope from which the thing moved is suspended: as, to sling casks or bales from the hold of a ship; to sling boats, ordnance, etc.
  • To cut (plastic clay) into thin slices by a string or wire, for the purpose of detecting and removing small stones that may be intermixed with the clay.
  • To be hurled or flung.
  • To move with long, swinging, elastic steps.
  • To blow the nose with the fingers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A drink composed of spirit (usually gin) and water sweetened.
  • transitive verb To throw with a sling.
  • transitive verb To throw; to hurl; to cast.
  • transitive verb To hang so as to swing.
  • transitive verb (Naut) To pass a rope round, as 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. The missile being lodged in a hole in the strap, the ends of the string are taken in the hand, and the whole whirled rapidly round until, by loosing one end, the missile is let fly with centrifugal force.
  • noun The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke.
  • noun A contrivance for sustaining anything by suspension.
  • noun A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported.
  • noun A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.
  • noun A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder.
  • noun (Naut.) A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast; -- chiefly in the plural.
  • noun a kind of cart used to transport cannon and their carriages, large stones, machines, etc., the objects transported being slung, or suspended by a chain attached to the axletree.
  • noun one of a pair of iron hooks used as part of a sling. See def. 3 (b) above.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To throw with a circular or arcing motion.
  • noun weapon 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.
  • noun A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported.
  • noun A loop of cloth, worn around the neck, for supporting a baby.
  • noun A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.
  • noun A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder.
  • noun Nautical A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast; -- chiefly in the plural.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English slinge.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably from Old Norse slyngja, slyngva ("to hurl"), from Proto-Germanic *slingwanan (“to worm, twist”) (compare Old English slingan ("to wind, twist"), German schlingen ("to swing, wind, twist"), Danish 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")).

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