zing

Noun

zing (countable and uncountable, plural zings)

1. A short high-pitched humming sound, such as that made by a bullet or vibrating string.
   • He listened to the zing and echo on the line, the chatter of distant operators, the patches of Morse from aircraft and ships at sea, quickly suppressed.1954, Ian Fleming, “True or False?”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 87
   • 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.1998 March 15, Edward E. Leslie, Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls, Mariner Books, →ISBN, →OL, page 387
2. (slang) A witty insult or derogatory remark.
3. (uncountable) Zest or vitality.
   • To accompany a meal, the fresh Italian lager Poretti is perfect; Erdinger Weisbier, a wheat beer from Germany, is full of zing;2006 May 25, Melinda Houston, “European Bier Cafe - Bar Reviews”, in The Age
4. (slang, uncountable) Pleasant or exciting flavour of food.

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.
   • 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.2000, Nick Nelson, The Golden Vortex, Conscious Publishing, →ISBN, →OL, page 89
   • 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.2005, Donald Hall, The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 101
2. (slang, transitive) To address a witty insult or comeback to.
   • Goomba: Ouch that was cold!
     Paragoomba: “What, you’re too good for us? Come off it, sister!
     Spike Goomba: “Nobody zings us like that! Nobody! Let’s get ’em!”2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Rogueport
3. To make a zinging noise or sound.
   • Outside, the crickets and the tree-frogs started to zing and tinkle and the great hawkmoths came to the wire-netting across the windows and clutched it, gazing with trembling ecstasy at the two oil lamps that hung from the cross-beams inside.1954, Ian Fleming, “The Undertaker's Wind”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 186

Interjection

1. (onomatopoeic) A high pitched humming sound.
   • Something inside of me started a symphony / Zing! Went the strings of my heart1934, “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart”, James F. Hanley (music)
2. (US, slang) Used to acknowledge a witty comeback, a zinger.
   • 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.2002, Chellie Campbell, The Wealthy Spirit, Sourcebooks, →ISBN, →OL, page 162