FLING (flung)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: flung   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fling mean? 

• FLING (noun)
  The noun FLING has 3 senses:

1. a usually brief attempt

2. a brief indulgence of your impulses

3. the act of flinging

  Familiarity information: FLING used as a noun is uncommon.

• FLING (verb)
  The verb FLING has 4 senses:

1. throw with force or recklessness

2. move in an abrupt or headlong manner

3. indulge oneself

4. throw or cast away

  Familiarity information: FLING used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A usually brief attempt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

crack; fling; go; offer; pass; whirl

Context example:

I gave it a whirl

Hypernyms ("fling" is a kind of...):

attempt; effort; endeavor; endeavour; try (earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A brief indulgence of your impulses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fling; spree

Hypernyms ("fling" is a kind of...):

intemperance; intemperateness; self-indulgence (excess in action and immoderate indulgence of bodily appetites, especially in passion or indulgence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fling"):

spending spree (a brief period of extravagant spending)

Derivation:

fling (indulge oneself)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of flinging

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("fling" is a kind of...):

throw (the act of throwing (propelling something with a rapid movement of the arm and wrist))

Derivation:

fling (throw with force or recklessness)

fling (throw or cast away)

• FLING (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fling    ... he / she / it flings   
Past simple: flung   
Past participle: flung   
-ing form: flinging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Throw with force or recklessness

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

fling the frisbee

Hypernyms (to "fling" is one way to...):

throw (propel through the air)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fling"):

flip; pitch; sky; toss (throw or toss with a light motion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

fling (the act of flinging)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move in an abrupt or headlong manner

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

He flung himself onto the sofa

Hypernyms (to "fling" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Indulge oneself

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

fling; splurge

Context example:

I splurged on a new TV

Hypernyms (to "fling" is one way to...):

consume; squander; ware; waste (spend extravagantly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

fling (a brief indulgence of your impulses)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Throw or cast away

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

cast aside; cast away; cast out; chuck out; discard; dispose; fling; put away; throw away; throw out; toss; toss away; toss out

Context example:

Put away your worries

Hypernyms (to "fling" is one way to...):

get rid of; remove (dispose of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fling"):

unlearn (discard something previously learnt, like an old habit)

deep-six; give it the deep six (toss out; get rid of)

jettison (throw away, of something encumbering)

junk; scrap; trash (dispose of (something useless or old))

waste (get rid of)

dump (throw away as refuse)

retire (dispose of (something no longer useful or needed))

abandon (forsake, leave behind)

liquidize; sell out; sell up (sell or get rid of all one's merchandise)

de-access (dispose of by selling)

close out (terminate by selling off or disposing of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fling (the act of flinging)

 Context examples 

He tugged at his coat pocket and flung a thin volume on the table.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Her husband flung himself on his knees beside her, and putting his arms round her, hid his face in the folds of her dress.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

At last he flung down the instrument, and plunged into a detailed account of his misadventures.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That eclipse will open a new path in the last week of December that had been locked shut and impossible to enter previously—now, doors will fling open for you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

And ever we were flung off, farther and farther, to the north-east.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The gravitational pull of these massive planets can fling objects out of their system and into interstellar space.

(New Study Shows What Interstellar Visitor ‘Oumuamua Can Teach Us, NASA)

That indicates ejected material flung outward in one direction, while the compact core of the supernova, called a neutron star, seems to have kicked off in the opposite direction.

(Star Explosion is Lopsided, NASA)

When he flung himself against the bars, quivering and frothing, they laughed at him and taunted him.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning across the room he flung open the door.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Neso, the farthest-flung of them, orbits in a wildly elliptical loop that carries it nearly 46 million miles (74 million kilometers) away from the planet and takes 27 years to complete.

(NASA Finds Neptune Moons Locked in 'Dance of Avoidance', NASA)