sling
/ˈslɪŋ/
sling verb: to throw with a circular or arcing motion.
Verb
sling (third-person singular simple present slings, present participle slinging, simple past and past participle slung or slang)
- To throw with a circular or arcing motion.
- Everyone could sling stones at an hairbreadth, and not miss.2000, Bible (World English), Judges xx. 16
- slings a broken rock aloft in aira. 1720, Joseph Addison, “Milton’s Style Imitated, in a Translation of a Story out of the Third Æneid”, in The Dramatick Works of Joseph Addison. With the Authour’s Poems, on Several Occasions
- To throw with a sling.
- To pass a rope around (a cask, gun, etc.) preparatory to attaching a hoisting or lowering tackle.
- To hang or stow (a tool or other equipment or supplies) so that the object is ready to deploy.
- To sell, peddle, or distribute (often illicitly, e.g. drugs, sex, etc.).
- You may know a lot about chemistry, man, but you don't know jack about slinging dope.2008, Breaking Bad, Season 1, Episode 6
Noun (1)
sling (plural slings)
- 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 Sling is also a weapon of great antiquity, formerly in high estimation among the ancients.1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 43
- A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported.
- A loop of cloth, worn around the neck, for supporting a baby or other such load.
- A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.
- A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder.
- A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast.
- The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke.
- At one sling
Of thy victorious arm, well-pleasing Son.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished... - To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them.1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act III, scene I, line 55
- At one sling
- 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.
- A drink composed of a spirit (usually gin) and water sweetened.
- gin sling
- a Singapore sling
Noun (2)
sling (plural slings)
- A young or infant spider, such as one raised in captivity.
sling meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
sling in Hindi
- गोफन करना
sling in Tamil
- கவண்பட்டை, தாங்கு கயிறு, ஆதாரப்பட்டி, கவண், தாங்கும் அமைப்பு, தவளம்
sling in Marathi
- sling
- गोफण gophaṇ
sling in Urdu
- سلنگ کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
- sling in Bengali
- গুলতি, ফিঙ্গা, হাত ঝোলানোর পট্টি
- sling in Telugu
- స్లింగ్, స్లింగ్ చేయడానికి
- sling in Malayalam
- ഭാരയഷ്ടി, തൂക്കക്കയറ്, താങ്ങ്, ചുറ്റിക്കെട്ട്
- sling in Kannada
- ಚಿಕ್ಕ cikka
- sling in Punjabi
- ਸਲਿੰਗ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ, ਸਲਿੰਗ
- sling in Gujarati
- ઝોળી jhoḷī
- sling in Odia
- ସ୍ଲିଂ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ସ୍ଲିଙ୍ଗ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ସ୍ଲିଂ କରିବାକୁ
- sling in Nepali
- स्लिङ, स्लिङ गर्न, स्लिङ्ग गर्न
- sling in Tagalog
- salumbaba
- sling in Arabic
- مِقْلَاع miqlāʕ, حَمَّالَة ḥammāla
- sling in Indonesian
- ketapel
- sling in Persian
- قلابسنگ qollâb-sang, فلاخن falâxan
Examples of sling in a sentence
- I'll be behind the pine slinging your favorite cold ones, so come and see me!
- That looks like a good spot to sling up your hammock.
- Don't you sling off at me anymore!
Synonyms of sling
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of sling
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | slings |
| present participle | slinging |
| past participle | slung |
| past | slung |
| past participle | slang |
| past | slang |
| Noun | |
| plural | slings |
Origin of sling
From Middle English slynge (noun), slyngen (verb), probably from Old Norse slyngja, slyngva (“to hurl”), from Proto-Germanic *slingwaną (“to worm, twist”) or compare Old English slingan (“to wind, twist”), from the same source. Compare German schlingen (“to swing, wind, twist”), Danish and Norwegian 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”)).
From a shortening of spiderling.
Words formed from sling
- sling about
- sling along
- sling for
- sling in
- sling it in
- sling off
- sling one's hook
- sling one up
- sling out
- sling over
- sling the hatchet
- sling to
- sling up
- undersling
- arse in a sling
- ass in a sling
- baby sling
- barrel sling
- boob-sling
- bottle sling
- butt in a sling
- gin sling
- hand-sling
- hand sling
- Hawaiian sling
- mint sling
- Singapore sling
- sling bag
- sling bikini
- sling blade
- sling cart
- sling dog
- sling-fruit
- sling ink
- sling psychrometer
- slings and arrows
- slingshot
- slingstone
- sling-stone
- sling stone
- staff sling
Phrases with sling
Words that rhyme with sling
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 sling
- What does sling mean?
- Sling means to throw with a circular or arcing motion.
- What is sling in Hindi?
- Sling in Hindi is गोफन करना. See Sling meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is sling?
- Sling can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce sling?
- Sling is pronounced /ˈslɪŋ/.
- What is the past tense of sling?
- The past tense of sling is slung.
Words near sling in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sling (page history and authors); sling (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sling (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); गोफण (Marathi) (page history and authors); sling (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sling (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sling (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sling (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); ಚಿಕ್ಕ (Kannada) (page history and authors); sling (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ઝોળી (Gujarati) (page history and authors); sling (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sling (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-sling.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.