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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Wing

Wing, n.

noun

n. [Dan. & Sw. vinge, Icel. väingr, wing, vings, agitation, fanning; Ger. schwinge.]

Sense 1. One of two anterior limbs of a fowl, corresponding to the arms of a man, and used for flying, except in the case of a few species of fowls, by which they are used only as an assistance in running. “As an eagle . . . fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.” Deut. xxxii. 11.

The long quill-feathers are in series. The primaries are those attached to the ulnar side of the hand; the secondaries, or wing-coverts, those of the fore-arm; the scapularies, those that lie over the humerus; and the bastard-feathers, those of the short outer digit. [See Illust. of Bird.]

Sense 2. Any similar member or instrument used for the purpose of flying; as, the wing of an insect or of a flying-fish.

Sense 3. Passage by flying; flight; as, to be on the wing; to take wing.

Light thickens, and the crow Makes wing to the rooky wood. Shak.

Sense 4. Motive or instrument of flight; means of flight or of rapid motion.

Fiery expedition be my wing. Shak.

Sense 5. That which agitates the air as a wing does, or which is put in wing-like motion by the action of the air; as, a fan or vane for winnowing grain; the vane or sail of a windmill, and the like.

Sense 6. An ornament worn on the shoulder;—a small imitation epaulet or shoulder-knot. Simmonds.

Sense 7. A side-piece; one of two corresponding appendages attached to the sides of any thing; or a single appendage so attached; hence, (a.) (Arch.) A side-building, less than the main edifice; as, one of the wings of a palace. (b.) (Bot.) A membranous expansion of a plant; one of the two side petals of a papilionaceous flower, as of the pea, bean, and the like. Gray. (c.) (Fort.) The longer side of crown-works, horn-works, and the like, connecting them with the main work. (d.) (Hort.) A side shoot of a tree or plant; a branch growing up by the side of another. [Obs.] Chambers. (e.) (Mil.) The right or left division of an army, regiment, and the like. (f.) (Naut.) That part of the hold or orlop of a vessel which is nearest the sides;—in a fleet, one of the extremities when the ships are drawn up in line, or when forming the two sides of a triangle. Totten. (g.) (Theatrical.) One of the sides of the stage. Simmonds.

On the wing, supported by, or flying with, the wings; flying.—On the wings of the wind, with the utmost velocity.—Under the wing, or wings of, under the care or protection of.—Wing-and-wing (Naut.), the situation of a fore-and-aft vessel when she is going dead before the wind, with her foresail hauled over on one side, and her mainsail on the other. Dana.

Wing, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. WINGED; p. pr. & vb. n. WINGING.] 1. To furnish with wings; to enable to fly, or to move with celerity. Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms. Pope. 2. To supply with wings or side-pieces. The main battle which on either side Shall be well winged with our chiefest horse. Shak. 3. To transport by flight. “Edge the keen sword, and wing the unerring ball.” Trumbull. I, an old turtle, Will wing me to some withered bough. Shak. 4. To move in flight through; to fly or pass rapidly through. [Rare.] There's not an arrow wings the sky But fancy turns its point to him. T. Moore. 5. To cut off the wings of; to wound in the wing; to disable a wing of; as, to wing a bird. To wing a flight, to exert the power of flying.