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ding¹

(dĭng)

v. dinged, ding·ing, dings

v.intr.

1. To ring; clang.

2. To speak persistently and repetitiously.

v.tr.

1. To cause to clang, as by striking.

2. To instill with constant repetition: dinged advice into my head.

A ringing sound.

[Partly imitative and partly alteration of DIN.]

ding²

(dĭng)

n.
Informal

1. A small dent or nick, as in the body of a car.

2. A minor penalty or deduction, as in a score.

tr.v. dinged, ding·ing, dings

1. To dent or nick: I dinged the rear bumper when I backed into another car.

2. To hit or strike: He was dinged on the head by a ball.

3. To penalize, as in assigning a score: The professor dinged the student for the typos in her essay.

4. Slang To shoot, especially with a gun: She dinged the target with her first shot.

[From ding, to strike, beat on, pound (from Middle English dingen, probably from Old English *dingan; akin to Old English dengja, dencgan, to beat, strike, and Old Norse dengja, to hammer) and from DING¹.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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