Fling
verbTo throw something forcefully or carelessly.
How to spell fling
5 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce fling
What does fling mean?
- verbTo throw something forcefully or carelessly.
- nounA short, casual romantic relationship or a brief period of unrestrained enjoyment.
Fling in a sentence
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verb
He would fling his keys onto the table the moment he got home.
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noun
They had a brief summer fling before she moved abroad.
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verb
Protesters tried to fling leaflets over the fence.
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noun
The holiday felt like one last fling before the busy term began.
Where does fling come from?
Language of origin: Old Norse
Fling is a Middle English word, flingen, that surfaced around the 1300s with the sense of rushing, dashing, or hurling oneself about. Its deeper roots are Scandinavian: it is closely related to the Old Norse flengja, meaning to flog, whip, or move violently, and the family carries an undercurrent of sudden, forceful motion. Over time the violent throwing sense settled into the modern idea of casting something away with energy or carelessness. By the 1800s the noun had picked up a lighter, social meaning: a short spell of unrestrained pleasure or a brief, casual love affair, the idea of letting oneself go for a while. Because the word is short and entirely phonetic, the only spelling care it needs is the -ng ending rather than -ng-something, and remembering it has one l, not two.
How the word is built
- fling (single Germanic root verb; no affixes)
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