Fling | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Flīng, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. FLUNG; p. pr. & vb. n. FLINGING.] [O. Sw. flenga, to beat, strike, throw, Icel. fleygia, to hurl, send; allied to Lat. figere, to strike down.]

Sense 1. To cast, send, or throw from the hand; to hurl; to dart; to emit with violence, as though thrown from the hand; as, to fling a stone at a bird.

'Tis Fate that flings the dice; and, as she flings, Of kings makes peasants, and of peasants kings. Dyrden.

He . . . like Jove, his lightning fling. Dryden.

Sense 2. To shed forth; to emit; to scatter.

The sun begins to fling His flaring beams. Milton.

Every beam new transient colors flings. Pope.

Sense 3. To throw down; to prostrate; hence, to baffle; to defeat; as, to fling a party in litigation.

His horse started, flung him, and fell upon him. Walpole.

To fling away, to reject; to discard. “Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition.” Shak.—To fling down, to throw to the ground, to demolish; to ruin.—To fling in, to throw in; not to charge in an account; as, in settling accounts, one party flings in a small sum, or a few days' work.—To fling off, to baffle in the chase; to defeat of prey; also, to get rid of. Addison.—To fling open, to throw open; to open suddenly or with violence; as, to fling open a door.—To fling out, to utter; to speak in an abrupt or harsh manner; as, to fling out hard words against another.—To fling up, to relinquish; to abandon; as, to fling up a design.

Fling, v. i.

verbintransitive

Sense 1. To throw; to wince; to flounce; as, the horse began to kick and fling.

Sense 2. To cast in the teeth; to utter harsh language; to sneer; as, the scold began to flout and fling.

Sense 3. To throw one's self in a violent or hasty manner; to rush; — self being omitted.

And crop-full, out of doors he flings. Milton.

I flung closer to his breast.

As sword that, after battle, flings to sheath. E. B. Browning.

To fling out, to grow unruly or outrageous. Shak.

Fling, n.

noun

n. 1. A cast from the hand; a throw; a flounce.

Sense 2. A severe or contemptuous remark; a gibe; a sneer; a sarcasm.

I, who love to have a fling, Both at senate house and king. Swift.

Sense 3. A kind of dance.