Definitions

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

  • noun A stopper, especially for the hole through which a cask, keg, or barrel is filled or emptied.
  • noun A bunghole.
  • transitive verb To close with a cork or stopper.
  • transitive verb Informal To injure or damage.
  • transitive verb Chiefly British To fling; toss.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Dead.
  • To fail; go to smash; collapse; become bankrupt: as, the bank has gone bung.
  • noun A large cork or stopper for closing the hole in the side of a cask through which it is filled.
  • noun The hole or orifice in a cask through which it is filled; a bung-hole.
  • noun A pickpocket; a sharper.
  • noun A brewer.
  • noun A pile of seggars or setters in a porcelain-kiln.
  • To beat severely; exhaust by hard blows or strenuous effort; bruise; maul: used chiefly in the phrase bunged up: as, he was all bunged up in the fight; the day's work has completely bunged me up.
  • To stop the orifice of with a bung; close.

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

  • transitive verb To stop, as the orifice in the bilge of a cask, with a bung; to close; -- with up.
  • transitive verb [Low] to use up, as by bruising or over exertion; to exhaust or incapacitate for action.
  • noun The large stopper of the orifice in the bilge of a cask.
  • noun The orifice in the bilge of a cask through which it is filled; bunghole.
  • noun Obs. & Low A sharper or pickpocket.

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

  • adjective Australia, New Zealand, slang Broken, not in working order.
  • noun A stopper, alternative to a cork, often made of rubber used to prevent fluid passing through the neck of a bottle, vat, a hole in a vessel etc.
  • noun A cecum or anus, especially of a slaughter animal.
  • noun slang A bribe.
  • verb transitive To plug, as with a bung.
  • verb transitive, informal To put somewhere without care; chuck.
  • verb transitive To batter, bruise; to cause to bulge or swell.
  • verb transitive To pass a bribe.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb close with a cork or stopper
  • verb give a tip or gratuity to in return for a service, beyond the compensation agreed on
  • noun a plug used to close a hole in a barrel or flask

Etymologies

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

[Middle English bunge, from Middle Dutch bonge, from Late Latin pūncta, hole, from Latin, feminine past participle of pungere, to prick; see peuk- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Yagara bang ("dead").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Dutch bonge, bonne or bonghe ("stopper"), or perhaps from French bonde, which may itself be either of Germanic origin, or from Celtic *bunda - either way probably from puncta ("hole"), the feminine singular form of Latin punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō ("pierce into, prick").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bung.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Also a stopper, alternative to a cork, often made of rubber used to prevent fluid passing through the neck of a bottle, a hole in a vessel etc.

    August 22, 2009

  • "This American Life producer, Ben Calhoun, got a hot tip about a farmer, who is in charge of 'a pork producing operation that spans several states.' This farmer has was visiting a pork processing plant one day in Oklahoma, and noticed boxes stacked on the floor labeled 'artificial calamari.' Asked what that meant, the plant’s manager replied, 'Bung. It’s hog rectum.' For clarity, Calhoun adds, 'Rectum that would be sliced into rings, deep fried, and boom, there you have it.'”

    - Eric Steinman, Is it Calamari or Pig Bung?, care2.com, 16 Jan 2013.

    January 18, 2013