1. A painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin
   "She applied calamine lotion to soothe the itchy insect sting";
   - bite, insect bite
    
2. A kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung
   "the sting of death";
   - stinging
    
3. A mental pain or distress
   "a sting of conscience";
   - pang
    
4. [informal] Operation designed to catch a person committing a criminal act
   "the police conducted a sting operation";
   - sting operation
    
5. [informal] A scheme to defraud by gaining someone's confidence
   "The couple fell victim to a sting and lost their life savings";
   - bunco [N. Amer, informal], bunco game [N. Amer, informal], bunko [N. Amer, informal], bunko game [N. Amer, informal], con [informal], confidence trick [Brit], confidence game [N. Amer], con game [N. Amer, informal], hustle [informal], flimflam [informal], con trick [Brit, informal]

1. Deliver a sting to
   "A bee stung my arm yesterday";
   - bite, prick
    
2. Cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort
   "The sun stung his face";
   - bite, burn
    
3. Cause a stinging pain
   "The needle stung his skin";
   - prick, twinge
    
4. Cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging
   "His remark stung her"
    
5. [informal] Saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous
   "I was stung with a huge tax bill";
   - stick [informal]

Derived forms: stings, stung, stinging

Type of: ache, bruise, cheat, force, fraud, harm, hurt, hurting, injure, injury, offend, operation, pain, pierce, rig [archaic], smart, spite, suffer, swindle, thrust, trauma, wound

Encyclopedia: Sting, The