fling
/ˈflɪŋ/
fling noun: an act of throwing, often violently.
Noun
fling (plural flings)
- An act of throwing, often violently.
- An act of moving the limbs or body with violent movements, especially in a dance.
- the fling of a horse
- An act or period of unrestrained indulgence, enthusiasm, or both.
- When I was as young as you, I had my fling. I led a life of pleasure.1838, Douglas William Jerrold, Men of Character
- "I am inclined to go and have a fling with them. Why not all of us — just for a minute or two — it will not detain us long?"1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), page 23
- A short romantic, oftentimes sexual, relationship.
- a summer fling
- I had a fling with a girl I met on holiday.
- Synonyms:
- affairette, dalliance, hookup, liaison
- An attempt, a try.
- give it a fling
- A severe or contemptuous remark; an expression of sarcastic scorn; a gibe or taunt.
- I, who love to have a fling, / Both at senate house and king.c. 1732, Jonathan Swift, Epistle to a Lady
- I can just make out clearly that he is having a good fling at the Pope. The congregation, numbering about two hundred, are evidently very much pleased with the clergyman's endeavour.1880, Good Words, volume 21, page 167
- A lively Scottish country dance.
- the Highland fling
- A party, especially a dance party.
- a spring fling
- A trifling matter; an object of contempt.
- ante 1800, old proverb
England were but a fling / Save for the crooked stick and the grey goose wing.
- ante 1800, old proverb
Verb
fling (third-person singular simple present flings, present participle flinging, simple past and past participle flung or (colloquial or dialectal) flang or (nonstandard) flinged)
- To throw with violence or quick movement; to hurl.
- 'Tis Fate that casts the Dice, and as she flings,
Of Kings makes Pedants, and of Pedants Kings.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, Charles Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Seventh Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]... - I know thy generous temper well. / Fling but the appearance of dishonour on it, / It straight takes fire.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 4
- 'Tis Fate that casts the Dice, and as she flings,
- To move (oneself) abruptly or violently; to rush or dash.
- And crop-full, out of doors he flings.a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC
- I see, sir, said I, I see what a man I am with. […] And away I flung, leaving him seemingly vexed, and in confusion.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter CXIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn...
- To throw; to wince; to flounce.
- The horse flung most potently, making his heels fly aloft in the air.1836, Helen Crocket, The Ettrick Shepherd's Last Tale
- To utter abusive language; to sneer.
- The scold began to flout and fling.
Proper noun capitalized: Fling
Fling (plural Flings)
- A surname.
fling meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
fling in Hindi
- fling
- ताना tānā
fling in Tamil
- எறி, தூக்கியெறி, தூரப் போடு, வீசு, கடாசு
fling in Marathi
- act of throwing
- जोराने फेकणे jorāne phekṇe, भिरकावणे bhirkāvṇe
- to throw with violence or quick movement; to hurl
- जोराने फेकणे jorāne phekṇe, भिरकावणे bhirkāvṇe
fling in Urdu
- to fling, loft, toss
- اچھالنا uchālnā
More languagesFewer languages
- fling in Telugu
- రువ్వు ruvvu
- fling in Malayalam
- വലിച്ചെറിയുക, എറിയുക, പായിക്കുക, വിക്ഷേപിക്കുക
- fling in Kannada
- ಬೀರು, ಚಿಮ್ಮು, ಎಸೆ, ಬೀಸಿ ಹಾಕು
- fling in Punjabi
- ਫਲਿੰਗ, ਫ਼ਲਿੰਗ, ਫਲਿੰਗ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
- fling in Odia
- ଫ୍ଲିଙ୍ଗ
- fling in Sanskrit
- क्षिपति kṣipati
- fling in Nepali
- फ्लिङ, फ्लिङ गर्न, फ्लिंङ गर्न
- fling in Arabic
- عَلَاقَة سَرِيعَة ʕalāqa sarīʕa, علاقة طيارى ʕelāqa ṭayyāri, صَبَّ ṣabba, رَمَّى rammā
- fling in Indonesian
- banting, membanting
Examples of fling in a sentence
- Here again steam is having its last fling, and the "dual link" drivers at Brunswick shed, Liverpool, already are alternating steam and diesel duties.1960 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 113:
- Because I've noticed one thing / This ain't no summer fling1976, “Oh Lori”, in Alessi, performed by Alessi Brothers:
- I flung closer to his breast, / As sword that, after battle, flings to sheath.1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “(please specify either |book=1 to 9 or the page)”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […]...
Synonyms of fling
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of fling
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | flings |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | flings |
| present participle | flinging |
| past participle | flung |
| past | flung |
| past participle (colloquial, dialectal) | flang |
| past (colloquial, dialectal) | flang |
| past participle (nonstandard) | flinged |
| past (nonstandard) | flinged |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Flings |
Origin of fling
From Middle English fling, from the verb (see below). Compare Icelandic flengur (“a fast sprint”).
From Middle English flyngen, from Old Norse flengja (“to whip”), from Proto-Germanic *flangijaną (“to beat, whip”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k-, *pleh₂g- (“to beat”). Cognate with Icelandic flengja (“to spank”), Norwegian flengja (“to rip, tear, or fling open”).
Words formed from fling
Phrases with fling
Words that rhyme with fling
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- bring
- jing
- ding
- cling
- unstring
- ming
- bing
- ching
- fingerling
- something
- zing
- Byng
- Beijing
- bling
- cha-ching
- ling
- Peking
- peng ting
- Singh
- thring
- Tring
- upswing
- abstinence ring
- aswing
- awing
- badelynge
- bering
- Chongqing
- conserving
- ging
- hang gliding
- hing
- ing
- Jingning
- Jining
- ka-ching
- kerching
- Kunming
- mis-sing
- morphling
- pling
- png
- qing
- Southern Ming
- submitting
- tang ping
- ting
- tinkering
Questions about fling
- What does fling mean?
- Fling means an act of throwing, often violently.
- What is fling in Hindi?
- Fling in Hindi is ताना (tānā). See Fling meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use fling in a sentence?
- Here again steam is having its last fling, and the "dual link" drivers at Brunswick shed, Liverpool, already are alternating steam and diesel duties.
- What part of speech is fling?
- Fling can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce fling?
- Fling is pronounced /ˈflɪŋ/.
- What is the plural of fling?
- The plural of fling is flings.
Words near fling in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fling (page history and authors); Fling (page history and authors); ताना (Hindi) (page history and authors); fling (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اچھالنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); రువ్వు (Telugu) (page history and authors); fling (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fling (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fling (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); fling (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); fling (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “fling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.