bung
pronunciation
How to pronounce bung in British English:
UK [bʌŋ]
How to pronounce bung in American English:
US [bʌŋ]
-
- Noun:
- a plug used to close a hole in a barrel or flask
-
- Verb:
- give a tip or gratuity to in return for a service, beyond the agreed-on compensation
- close with a cork or stopper
Word Origin
- bung (n.)
- mid-15c., "large stopper for a cask," from Middle Dutch bonge "stopper;" or perhaps from French bonde "bung, bunghole" (15c.), which may be of Germanic origin (or the Germanic words may be borrowed from Romanic), or it may be from Gaulish *bunda (compare Old Irish bonn, Gaelic bonn, Welsh bon "base, sole of the foot"). It is possible that either or both of these sources is ultimately from Latin puncta in the sense of "hole." Transferred to the cask-mouth itself (also bung-hole) from 1570s.
Example
- 1. It 's scarily reminiscent of david cameron 's plan to bung married couples an extra 150 for being hitched .
- 2. But , as so often with thatcherism , behind the private sector promise lay a public sector bung .
- 3. Politicians prefer to bung cash at favoured initiatives ; it 's in their nature , but makes environmental gains harder to come by .
- 4. Xiangzi , his head bung , didn 't understand but began to feel afraid .
- 5. We 're just going to bung the car into the garage and let them deal with it .