Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A weapon consisting of a looped strap in which a stone is whirled and then let fly.
- n. A slingshot.
- n. A looped rope, strap, or chain for supporting, cradling, or hoisting something, especially:
- n. A strap of a shoe that fits over the heel.
- n. A strap used to carry a rifle over the shoulder.
- n. Nautical A rope or chain that attaches to the mast and supports a yard.
- n. A band suspended from the neck to support an injured arm or hand.
- n. The act of hurling a missile.
- v. To hurl with or as if with a sling.
- v. To place or carry in a sling.
- v. To move by means of a sling; raise or lower in a sling: sling cargo into a hold.
- v. To hang loosely or freely; let swing.
- idiom. slings and arrows Harshly critical comments.
- n. A drink consisting of brandy, whiskey, or gin, sweetened and usually lemon-flavored.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- 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.
- n. Toddy with nutmeg grated on the surface. See gin-sling.
- n. A harness consisting of a wide girth with breast-strap and breeching, suspended from a ceiling, for supporting invalid horses in a standing position.
- n. A suspending chain or rope for carrying a movable platform for the use of repairers or painters.
Wiktionary
- v. To throw with a circular or arcing motion.
- n. 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.
- n. A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported.
- n. A loop of cloth, worn around the neck, for supporting a baby.
- n. A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.
- n. A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder.
- n. Nautical A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast; -- chiefly in the plural.
- n. The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke.
- n. climbing A loop of rope or fabric tape used for various purposes: e.g. as part of a runner, or providing extra protection when abseiling or belaying.
- n. A drink composed of a spirit (usually gin) and water sweetened.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. 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.
- n. The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke.
- n. A contrivance for sustaining anything by suspension.
- n. A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported.
- n. A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.
- n. A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder.
- n. (Naut.) A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast; -- chiefly in the plural.
- v. To throw with a sling.
- v. To throw; to hurl; to cast.
- v. To hang so as to swing.
- v. (Naut) To pass a rope round, as a cask, gun, etc., preparatory to attaching a hoisting or lowering tackle.
- n. A drink composed of spirit (usually gin) and water sweetened.
WordNet 3.0
- v. hold or carry in a sling
- n. a shoe that has a strap that wraps around the heel
- v. move with a sling
- n. a highball with liquor and water with sugar and lemon or lime juice
- n. a simple weapon consisting of a looped strap in which a projectile is whirled and then released
- n. bandage to support an injured forearm; consisting of a wide triangular piece of cloth hanging from around the neck
- n. a plaything consisting of a Y-shaped stick with elastic between the arms; used to propel small stones
- v. hang loosely or freely; let swing
- v. hurl as if with a sling
Etymologies
- 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")). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English slinge.Origin unknown. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“April 14, 2008 kgirl said ... the sling is awesome, and you'll love it - i got a nice, brown ring sling from baby on the hip, and i am so glad. saturday was so much fun. i'm still recovering from my two drinks.”
“The upright position in the sling is a good place to start.”
“Remember that the sling is there to replace your arms, thus settling the baby on your body just like you like to carry them will mean you know already that they are comfortable and positioned correctly.”
“The captain then rigged what he called a sling, which was a sort of loop of ropes that a person could be put into and made to slide down in it on the cable to the shore.”
“The recipe for a gin sling is found in Mrs. Beeton’s cookbook, which shows the acceptability of gin in middle-class households by the mid-Victorian era:”
“A few years back I invested in sling and swivels for my 870 pump and that made a BIG difference.”
“But at least Summer Glau was hot in sling and black glove.”
"'Cos underneath the steel and rust and oil and shit, there's chrome, just shining chrome."
“See, the beauty of our homemade ring sling is that both of us can wear it, with only a bit of adjustment.”
“The versatility of the detachable sling is great for packing the gun to and from the blind.”
“The sling is not only comfy for both mom and baby, but lovely in its appearance as well.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sling’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
veal, valve, used, yak, wax, wan, teak, vat, vas, strip, use, strap and 4515 more...
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TECH - web application frameworks
limit, pack, automatic, HTTP, database, poi, event, coverage, core, hibernate, function, product and 310 more...
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Your Mother
Joyess
cramp, crumble, cringe, slope, fling, prone, freckle, plank, frock, tramp, slump, crotch rot and 36 more...
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Greek Fire
being items related to mediaeval warfare, arms and armaments.
caltrop, ballista, trebuchet, mangonel, petard, onager, petrary, hurlbat, francisca, crossbow, longbow, flail and 97 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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zzyyxx's Words
plethora, drout, functional, rye, wring, doubt, cognative, weird, gnaw, surcease, rend, languish and 438 more...
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A Parthian Shot: Archery Words
Just what it says. Archery rocks.
bow, arrow, longbow, crossbow, barebow, recurve, compound bow, flight, arrowhead, nock, feather, yew and 197 more...
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Favorite Five-Letter Words
Just what it sounds like. My favorites. Five letters.
ennui, barfy, samba, schwa, beefy, chunk, queef, spasm, skulk, bowel, elbow, fruit and 235 more...
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conceptwriter's Words
sloth, jackass, dickhead, technostalgic, futuristic, enigma, impact, addict, nasty, premium, extraordinaire, yearning and 262 more...
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Activated Phonemes
This list was generated by first taking a letter from the alphabet, or any of the initial cluster set of phonesthemes compiled by the ingenious Benjamin Shisler) and then sticking one of the suffix...
bing, ding, ging, jing, ling, ming, king, ping, ring, sing, ting, wing and 189 more...
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fbharjo's Words
jumelle, kef, kenspeckle, lautitious, essentic, pilpulistic, impavid, cicurant, clou, chrysostomic, miasma, teleology and 1625 more...
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Nigella Bites
words from the cookbook "Nigella Bites" by Nigella Lawson
intend, evangelical, present, nattering space, inevitably, consequently, techniques, liqueur, purist, frankly, constraints, jot and 256 more...
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Fife and Drum Words
For all those fifers and drummers out there... This one's for you.
Related lists are here and here.drum, fife, sticks, ears, rope-tensioned, snare, snare head, batter head, shell, rim, sling, paradiddle and 72 more...
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Any word i can think of
WWWWWWEEEEEEEEE love words
abacus, abbadon, syzygy, fabulous, cleft, laker, langworthy, avarice, lust, function, normandy, achord and 22 more...
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The Anonymous Borrower's Words
Words from the English translation of Italo Calvino's Baron in the Trees found underlined, in blue biro, by a previous reader of the Vancouver Public Library's copy of the Calvino collection entitl...
sentinel, mane, shod, rapier, tricorne, elm, carob, mulberry, shrub, waft, wren, gaiters and 49 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sling.

actung Australian slang for 'bribe' (OED) Dec 7, 2012
dailyword Artie had to wear this in "The Night Of The Storm" story while his arm and shoulder healed from a shotgun wound he got three months ago. Oct 5, 2012