zing

English

Etymology

Of onomatopoeic origin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: zĭng; IPA^(key): /zɪŋ/
• (General American) enPR: zēng; IPA^(key): /zi(ː)ŋ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋ, -iŋ

Noun

zing (countable and uncountable, plural zings)

1. A short high-pitched humming sound, such as that made by a bullet or vibrating string.
   • 1998 March 15, Edward E. Leslie, Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls, Mariner Books, →ISBN, →OL, page 387:

     I heard a zing close to my head and looked up again. Five or six men were lined up on the deck above me with rifles shooting at the shark.

2. (slang) A witty insult or derogatory remark.
3. (uncountable) Zest or vitality.
   • 2006 May 25, Melinda Houston, “European Bier Cafe - Bar Reviews”, in The Age‎^[1]:

     To accompany a meal, the fresh Italian lager Poretti is perfect; Erdinger Weisbier, a wheat beer from Germany, is full of zing;

4. (uncountable, slang) Pleasant or exciting flavour of food.

Derived terms

• zingless

Translations

a short high-pitched humming sound

• Finnish: suhahdus (fi), surahdus
• Spanish: zumbido (es) m, silbido (es) m

zest or vitality

• Czech: elán m, verva (cs) f, nadšení (cs) n
• Dutch: pit (nl) m
• Finnish: säpinä
• French: sève (fr), vitalité (fr)
• Spanish: brío (es) m

Verb

zing (third-person singular simple present zings, present participle zinging, simple past and past participle zinged)

1. (intransitive) To move very quickly, especially while making a high-pitched hum.
   • 2000, Nick Nelson, The Golden Vortex, Conscious Publishing, →ISBN, →OL, page 89:

     We are all a second or two older than an astronaut who has been zinging around the Earth at 18000 miles per hour, because of his or her greater speed and the lack of gravity.

   • 2005, Donald Hall, The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 101:

     When the caller identified herself as from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle my heart zinged. I heard the words we had yearned for since March: They had found a donor marrow, mismatched at one antigen, that might work for Jane.

2. (transitive, slang) To address a witty insult or comeback to.

Derived terms

• zinger
• zingingly

Interjection

zing

1. (onomatopoeia) A high pitched humming sound.
   • 1934, “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart”, James F. Hanley (music):

     Something inside of me started a symphony / Zing! Went the strings of my heart

2. (US, slang) Used to acknowledge a witty comeback, a zinger.
   • 2002, Chellie Campbell, The Wealthy Spirit, Sourcebooks, →ISBN, →OL, page 162:

     Zing! The joke had rebounded back on the one who started it. "Ouch!" Mama Jane winced ruefully. We all dissolved in laughter at the good-natured repartee.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋ
• IPA^(key): /zɪŋ/

Verb

zing

1. inflection of zingen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Iu Mien

Noun

zing 

1. eye

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English zinge, from Old English singan, from Proto-West Germanic *singwan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ziːn/
• Homophones: zeen, zeene, zien

Verb

zing (past participle zung or zang)

1. to sing
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, pages 108:

     Zing ug a mor fane a zour a ling.

     [Sing for the moor iris, the sorrel and the ling.]

   • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 116, lines 6-8:

     Na oure gladès ana whilke we dellt wi' mattoke, an zing t'oure caulès wi plou,

     In our valleys where we were digging with the spade, or as we whistled to our horses in the plough,

   • 1927, “PAUDEEN FOUGHLAAN'S WEDDEEN”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 133, lines 1:

     Chul zing o a weddeen o Paudeen Foughlaan,

     I'll sing of the wedding of Paddy Coughlan,