WING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wing mean? 

• WING (noun)
  The noun WING has 11 senses:

1. a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)

2. one of the horizontal airfoils on either side of the fuselage of an airplane

3. a stage area out of sight of the audience

4. a unit of military aircraft

5. the side of military or naval formation

6. a hockey player stationed in a forward position on either side

7. (in flight formation) a position to the side and just to the rear of another aircraft

8. a group within a political party or legislature or other organization that holds distinct views or has a particular function

9. the wing of a fowl

10. a barrier that surrounds the wheels of a vehicle to block splashing water or mud

11. an addition that extends a main building

  Familiarity information: WING used as a noun is familiar.

• WING (verb)
  The verb WING has 1 sense:

1. travel through the air; be airborne

  Familiarity information: WING used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A movable organ for flying (one of a pair)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

organ (a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function)

Meronyms (parts of "wing"):

alula; bastard wing; spurious wing (tuft of small stiff feathers on the first digit of a bird's wing)

flight feather; pinion; quill; quill feather (any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird)

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

ala (a wing of an insect)

fore-wing; fore wing; forewing (either of the anterior pair of wings on an insect that has four wings)

balancer; halter; haltere (either of the rudimentary hind wings of dipterous insects; used for maintaining equilibrium during flight)

pennon; pinion (wing of a bird)

elytron; wing case (either of the horny front wings in beetles and some other insects which cover and protect the functional hind wings)

Holonyms ("wing" is a part of...):

bat; chiropteran (nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate)

insect (small air-breathing arthropod)

angel (spiritual being attendant upon God)

bird (warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings)

Derivation:

wing (travel through the air; be airborne)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One of the horizontal airfoils on either side of the fuselage of an airplane

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

aerofoil; airfoil; control surface; surface (a device that provides reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air; can lift or control a plane in flight)

Meronyms (parts of "wing"):

rib (support resembling the rib of an animal)

flap; flaps (a movable airfoil that is part of an aircraft wing; used to increase lift or drag)

aileron (an airfoil that controls lateral motion)

Holonyms ("wing" is a part of...):

aeroplane; airplane; plane (an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets)

Derivation:

wing (travel through the air; be airborne)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A stage area out of sight of the audience

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

backstage; offstage; wing

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

stage (a large platform on which people can stand and can be seen by an audience)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A unit of military aircraft

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

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

air unit (a military unit that is part of the airforce)

Meronyms (members of "wing"):

squadron (an air force unit larger than a flight and smaller than a group)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Holonyms ("wing" is a part of...):

air division; division (a unit of the United States Air Force usually comprising two or more wings)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The side of military or naval formation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

flank; wing

Context example:

they attacked the enemy's right flank

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

formation (an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A hockey player stationed in a forward position on either side

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

hockey player; ice-hockey player (an athlete who plays hockey)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(in flight formation) a position to the side and just to the rear of another aircraft

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

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

place; position (the particular portion of space occupied by something)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A group within a political party or legislature or other organization that holds distinct views or has a particular function

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

they are the progressive wing of the Republican Party

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

social group (people sharing some social relation)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The wing of a fowl

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Context example:

he preferred the drumsticks to the wings

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

helping; portion; serving (an individual quantity of food or drink taken as part of a meal)

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

turkey wing (the wing of a turkey)

chicken wing (the wing of a chicken)

Holonyms ("wing" is a part of...):

bird; fowl (the flesh of a bird or fowl (wild or domestic) used as food)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A barrier that surrounds the wheels of a vehicle to block splashing water or mud

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

fender; wing

Context example:

in Britain they call a fender a wing

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

barrier (a structure or object that impedes free movement)

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

mudguard; splash-guard; splash guard (a curved piece above the wheel of a bicycle or motorcycle to protect the rider from water or mud thrown up by the wheels)

Holonyms ("wing" is a part of...):

auto; automobile; car; machine; motorcar (a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine)

Sense 11

Meaning:

An addition that extends a main building

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

annex; annexe; extension; wing

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

add-on; addition; improver (a component that is added to something to improve it)

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

ell (an extension at the end and at right angles to the main building)

Holonyms ("wing" is a part of...):

building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)

• WING (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel through the air; be airborne

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

fly; wing

Context example:

Man cannot fly

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

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

fly (travel over (an area of land or sea) in an aircraft)

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

buzz (fly low)

rack (fly in high wind)

flight (fly in a flock)

fly on (continue flying)

soar (fly upwards or high in the sky)

hover (hang in the air; fly or be suspended above)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

wing (a movable organ for flying (one of a pair))

wing (one of the horizontal airfoils on either side of the fuselage of an airplane)

 Context examples 

When the two wings were eaten, she went and looked for her master, and did not see him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It’s a double-winged house, and the servants live on one side, the family on the other.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He threw stones at her and with one chance shot broke a wing.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

And with another bow, the Monkey King spread his wings and flew away through the window, followed by all his band.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The family is defined by a conserved DNA-binding domain (the ETS-DBD), which forms a highly conserved, winged, helix-turn-helix structural motif.

(ETS Family Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

To Alleyne's eye, it was as if John had taken unto himself wings and flown.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was because of her loss that she paid no attention to the winged bolt of the sky.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

There is no one else, and no sound could alarm those who are in the farther wing.

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

Now, on the other side of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open.

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

The disease is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which results in a skin infection, a distinctive white growth around the muzzles and on the wings of bats.

(Hibernation season over, will disease-ridden bats emerge from caves and mines this spring?, NSF)