wing

• whing (obsolete)
• weng (obsolete)

From Middle English winge, wenge, from Old Norse vængr (“wing”), from Proto-Germanic *wēinga, *wēingan-. Cognate with Danish vinge (“wing”), Swedish vinge (“wing”), Icelandic vængur (“wing”), from *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”), thus related to wind. Replaced native Middle English fither (from Old English fiþere, from Proto-Germanic *fiþriją), which merged with fether (from Old English feþer, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō). More at feather.

• enPR: wĭng, IPA^(key): /wɪŋ/

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• Rhymes: -ɪŋ

wing (plural wings)

1. An appendage of an animal's (bird, bat, insect) body that enables it to fly; a similar fin at the side of a ray or similar fish
2. (slang) Human arm.
3. (aviation) Part of an aircraft that produces the lift for rising into the air.
4. One of the large pectoral fins of a flying fish.
5. One of the broad, thin, anterior lobes of the foot of a pteropod, used as an organ in swimming.
6. (botany) Any membranaceous expansion, such as that along the sides of certain stems, or of a fruit of the kind called samara.
7. (botany) Either of the two side petals of a papilionaceous flower.
8. A side shoot of a tree or plant; a branch growing up by the side of another.
9. Passage by flying; flight.

   to take wing

   • Shakespeare

     Light thickens; and the crow / Makes wing to the rooky wood.

10. Motive or instrument of flight; means of flight or of rapid motion.
    • Shakespeare

      Fiery expedition be my wing.

11. A part of something that is lesser in size than the main body, such as an extension from the main building.

    the west wing of the hospital

    the wings of a corkscrew

12. Anything that agitates the air as a wing does, or is put in winglike motion by the action of the air, such as a fan or vane for winnowing grain, the vane or sail of a windmill, etc.
13. An ornament worn on the shoulder; a small epaulet or shoulder knot.
14. A cosmetic effect where eyeliner curves outward and ends at a point.
15. A fraction of a political movement. Usually implies a position apart from the mainstream center position.
16. An organizational grouping in a military aviation service:
    1. (Britain) A unit of command consisting of two or more squadrons and itself being a sub-unit of a group or station.
    2. (US) A larger formation of two or more groups, which in turn control two or more squadrons.
17. (Britain) A panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.
18. (nautical) A platform on either side of the bridge of a vessel, normally found in pairs.
19. (nautical) 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.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Totten to this entry?)

20. (sports) A position in several field games on either side of the field.
21. (sports) A player occupying such a position, also called a winger
    • 2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in BBC‎:

      The Tottenham wing was causing havoc down the right and when he broke past the bemused Sasa Balic once again, Bellamy was millimetres from connecting with his cross as the Liverpool striker hurled himself at the ball.

22. (typography, informal, rare) A háček.
    • 1985, David Grambs, Literary Companion Dictionary, page 378:

      ˇ wing, wedge, hǎcek, inverted circumflex (Karel Čapek)

23. (theater) One of the unseen areas on the side of the stage in a theatre.
24. (in the plural) The insignia of a qualified pilot or aircrew member.
    • 2004: Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage

      Anyone and everyone with wings - press officers, operations specialists, even General Curtis LeMay, commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe - was put on flight duty and took turns flying double shifts for "Operation Vittles."

25. A portable shelter consisting of a fabric roof on a frame, like a tent without sides.
26. On the Enneagram, one of the two adjacent types to an enneatype that forms an individual's subtype of his or her enneatype

    Tom's a 4 on the Enneagram, with a 3 wing.

• (panel of a car): fender (US), guard (Australia)
• (sports position): forward

• left wing
• right wing

• on the wing
• take under one's wing
• wing it
• wait in the wings

wing (third-person singular simple present wings, present participle winging, simple past and past participle winged)

1. (transitive) To injure slightly (as with a gunshot), especially in the wing or arm.
2. (intransitive) To fly.
   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter V, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

3. (transitive, of a building) To add a wing (extra part) to.
4. (transitive) To act or speak extemporaneously; to improvise; to wing it.
5. (transitive) To throw.

• Gwin, gwin

wing

1. Alternative form of winge

From English wing.

wing

1. wing

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wing

1. little (by amount)