wing

From Middle English winge, wenge, from Old Norse vængr ("wing of a flying animal, wing of a building"; compare vængi (“ship's cabin”)), from Proto-Germanic *wēingijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”), thus related to wind. Cognate with Danish vinge (“wing”), Swedish vinge (“wing”), Icelandic vængur (“wing”).

Replaced native Middle English fither (from Old English fiþre, from Proto-Germanic *fiþriją), which merged with Middle English fether (from Old English feþer, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō). More at feather.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: wĭng; IPA^(key): /wɪŋ/

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• Rhymes: -ɪŋ

wing (plural wings)

1. An appendage of an animal's (bird, bat, insect) body that enables it to fly.

   The bird was flapping its wings

2. A fin at the side of a ray or similar fish.
4. (slang) Human arm.
5. (aviation) Part of an aircraft that produces the lift for rising into the air.

   I took my seat on the plane, overlooking the wing.

6. One of the large pectoral fins of a flying fish.
7. One of the broad, thin, anterior lobes of the foot of a pteropod, used as an organ in swimming.
8. (botany) Any membranaceous expansion, such as that along the sides of certain stems, or one of the bracts on a dragon fruit, or of a fruit of the kind called samara.
9. (botany) Either of the two side petals of a papilionaceous flower.
10. A side shoot of a tree or plant; a branch growing up by the side of another.
11. Passage by flying; flight.

    to take wing

    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

      Light thickens; and the crow / Makes wing to the rooky wood.

12. Limb or instrument of flight; means of flight or of rapid motion.
    • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

      Fiery expedition be my wing.

13. A part of something that is lesser in size than the main body, such as an extension from the main building.

    the west wing of the hospital

    the wings of a corkscrew

    • 2017, Laura Bates, Girl Up, page 8:

      It's a bit annoying but (like sanitary pads with wings) it's worth it if you want to stay extra secure.

14. One of the longer sides of crownworks or hornworks in fortification.
15. (slang, MLE) Short for prison wing, a cellblock; or prison or doing time by extension.
    • 2021 July 18, “‘Woop’ Freestyle” (0:25 from the start), Trizz (lyrics):

      They got bro-bro stuck on the wing, cah I picked up and bullet him

16. Anything that agitates the air as a wing does, or is put in winglike motion by the action of the air, such as a fan or vane for winnowing grain, the vane or sail of a windmill, the sail of a ship, etc.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto IX:

      Fair ship, that from the Italian shore,
      ⁠Sailest the placid ocean-plains
      ⁠With my lost Arthur’s loved remains,
      Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er.

17. A protruding piece of material on a menstrual pad to hold it in place and prevent leakage.
18. An ornament worn on the shoulder; a small epaulet or shoulder knot.
19. A cosmetic effect where eyeliner curves outward and ends at a point.
20. A faction of a political movement. Usually implies a position apart from the mainstream center position.
21. An organizational grouping in a military aviation service:
    1. (British) A unit of command consisting of two or more squadrons and itself being a sub-unit of a group or station.
    2. (US) A larger formation of two or more groups, which in turn control two or more squadrons.
22. (British) A panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.
23. (nautical) A platform on either side of the bridge of a vessel, normally found in pairs.
24. (nautical) That part of the hold or orlop of a vessel which is nearest the sides. In a fleet, one of the extremities when the ships are drawn up in line, or when forming the two sides of a triangle.
    • 1864, William M. Brady, The Kedge-anchor:

      their ends may rest a little below the orlop-wing gratings

25. (sports) A position in several field games on either side of the field.

    Smith started the game in the centre of midfield, but moved to the wing after 30 minutes.

26. (sports) A player occupying such a position, also called a winger
    • 2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in BBC‎^[1]:

      The Tottenham wing was causing havoc down the right and when he broke past the bemused Sasa Balic once again, Bellamy was millimetres from connecting with his cross as the Liverpool striker hurled himself at the ball.

27. (typography, informal, rare) A háček.
    • 1985, David Grambs, Literary Companion Dictionary, page 378:

      ˇ wing, wedge, hǎcek, inverted circumflex (Karel Čapek)

29. (theater) One of the unseen areas on the side of the stage in a theatre.
    • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 176:

      The performers crowded breathlessly in the wings.

30. (in the plural) The insignia of a qualified pilot or aircrew member.
    • 2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage:

      Anyone and everyone with wings - press officers, operations specialists, even General Curtis LeMay, commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe - was put on flight duty and took turns flying double shifts for "Operation Vittles."

31. A portable shelter consisting of a fabric roof on a frame, like a tent without sides.
32. On the enneagram, one of the two adjacent types to an enneatype that forms an individual's subtype of his or her enneatype.

    Tom's a 4 on the enneagram, with a 3 wing.

• weng, whing, wyng (all obsolete)

• (panel of a car): fender (US), guard (Australia)
• (sports position): forward
• (U.S. Air Force): delta (U.S. Space Force), garrison (U.S. Space Force)

wing (third-person singular simple present wings, present participle winging, simple past and past participle winged or (colloquial) wung)

1. (transitive) To injure slightly (as with a gunshot), especially in the wing or arm.
2. (intransitive) To fly.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168:

     Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

3. (transitive, of a building) To add a wing (extra part) to.
4. (transitive) To act or speak extemporaneously; to improvise; to wing it.

   I lost all my notes I'd made, so was partially winging the meeting.

5. (transitive) To throw.

   Synonyms: fling, hurl; see also Thesaurus:throw

6. (transitive) To furnish with wings.
7. (transitive) To transport with, or as if with, wings; to bear in flight, or speedily.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XL, page 62:

     ⁠Deep folly! yet that this could be—
     ⁠That I could wing my will with might
     ⁠To leap the grades of life and light,
     And flash at once, my friend, to thee: […]

8. (transitive) To traverse by flying.

• Gwin, gwin

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Onomatopoeic?”)

wing

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang, of person) intoxicated; tipsy

• stone

wing

1. Alternative form of winge

From English wing.

wing

1. wing

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wing

1. little (by amount)

From Middle English winge, wenge, from Old Norse vængr.

• IPA^(key): /wiːn/
• Homophone: wyeene

wing

1. (figurative) cross
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Vour-wing leet.

     Four cross roads.

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 78