wing
pronunciation
How to pronounce wing in British English:
UK [wɪŋ]
How to pronounce wing in American English:
US [wɪŋ]
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- Noun:
- a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)
- one of the horizontal airfoils on either side of the fuselage of an airplane
- a stage area out of sight of the audience
- a unit of military aircraft
- the side of military or naval formation
- a hockey player stationed in a forward positin on either side
- the wing of a fowl
- a barrier that surrounds the wheels of a vehicle to block splashing water or mud
- an addition that extends a main building
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- Verb:
- travel through the air; be airborne
Word Origin
- wing
- wing: [12] Wing was borrowed from Old Norse vængir, source also of Swedish and Danish vinge and Norwegian veng. This came ultimately from the Indo-European base *we- ‘blow’, and the missing semantic link with ‘wing’ may be ‘flutter’.
- wing (n.)
- late 12c., wenge, from Old Norse vængr "wing of a bird, aisle, etc." (cognates: Danish and Swedish vinge "wing"), of unknown origin, perhaps from a Proto-Germanic *we-ingjaz, suffixed form of PIE root *we- "blow" (source of Old English wawan "to blow;" see wind (n.)). Replaced Old English feðra (plural) "wings" (see feather). The meaning "either of two divisions of a political party, army, etc." is first recorded c. 1400; theatrical sense is from 1790. The slang sense of earn (one's) wings is 1940s, from the wing-shaped badges awarded to air cadets on graduation. To be under (someone's) wing "protected by (someone)" is recorded from early 13c. Phrase on a wing and a prayer is title of a 1943 song about landing a damaged aircraft.
- wing (v.)
- c. 1600, "take flight;" 1610s, "fit with wings," from wing (n.). Meaning "shoot a bird in the wing" is from 1802, with figurative extensions to wounds suffered in non-essential parts. Verbal phrase wing it (1885) is said to be from a theatrical slang sense of an actor learning his lines in the wings before going onstage, or else not learning them at all and being fed by a prompter in the wings; but perhaps it is simply an image of a baby bird taking flight from the nest for the first time (the phrase is attested in this sense from 1875). Related: Winged; winging.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Researchers will test how different wing angles affect flight .
- 2. The qantas jet 's wing appeared damaged after landing .
- 3. But ailerons add weight and complexity to a wing .
- 4. How do we know that our physical theories concerning the wing are true ?
- 5. These clearly showed flames coming from the wing rather than the engines themselves .