From Middle English dingen, dyngen (strong verb), from Old English *dingan (“to ding”), from Proto-West Germanic *dingwan, from Proto-Germanic *dingwaną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰen- (“to beat, push”).
Related to Old English denġan, denċġan (“to ding, knock, beat, strike”, weak verb) and Old Norse dengja (“to hammer”, weak verb); both from Proto-Germanic *dangijaną (“to beat, hammer, peen”), causative of *dingwaną.
Cognate with Icelandic dengja (“to hammer”), Swedish dänga (“to bang, beat”), Danish dænge (“to bang, beat”), German tengeln, dengeln (“to peen”).
Meanings
(informal) Very minor damage caused by being struck; a small dent or chip.
If you surf regularly, then you're going to ding your board. Here's a rough guide on how to repair them... If the ding is on the rail, run tape across the ding conforming to the rail curve, leaving a gap to pour in resin and make sure it is sealed to prevent resin escaping and forming dribbles. 2007 September, “Ding Repairs”, BBC Wales, archived on 5 October 2014
Mike hit the bottom and picked up a little ding on his head. 1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:
(colloquial) A rejection.
I just got my first ding letter.
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dings
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (4)
fi kolhu (very minor damage) · es raspadura (very minor damage) · fi lommo (very minor damage) · es raspón (very minor damage)
ding en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
/dɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)
/ˈdɪŋɡ/ (Midlands, Northern-England) without the NG-coalescence
From Middle English dingen, dyngen (strong verb), from Old English *dingan (“to ding”), from Proto-West Germanic *dingwan, from Proto-Germanic *dingwaną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰen- (“to beat, push”).
Related to Old English denġan, denċġan (“to ding, knock, beat, strike”, weak verb) and Old Norse dengja (“to hammer”, weak verb); both from Proto-Germanic *dangijaną (“to beat, hammer, peen”), causative of *dingwaną.
Cognate with Icelandic dengja (“to hammer”), Swedish dänga (“to bang, beat”), Danish dænge (“to bang, beat”), German tengeln, dengeln (“to peen”).
Meanings
(transitive) To hit or strike.
To dash; to throw violently.
to ding the book a coit's distance from him 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
The butcher's axe (like great Alcides' bat) / Dings deadly downe ten thousand thousand flat. 1630, Taylor's Works:
(colloquial, transitive) To inflict minor damage upon, especially by hitting or striking.
If you surf regularly, then you're going to ding your board. 2007 September, “Ding Repairs”, BBC Wales, archived on 5 October 2014
(colloquial, transitive) To fire or reject.
His top school dinged him last week.
(colloquial, transitive) To deduct, as points, from (somebody), in the manner of a penalty; to penalize.
My bank dinged me three bucks for using their competitor's ATM.
[…] [E]mployees don't feel like they're going to get dinged on performance reviews because they had the same goals as a guy who had been there all 12 months with no leave. 2015 August 7, Ron Lieber, “Bringing paternity leave into the mainstream [print version: Paid leave expands for fathers, but will there be any takers?, International New York Times, 10 August 2015, p. 14]”, in The New York Times:
(transitive) To mishit (a golf ball).
(Scotland, of rain) To fall heavily and continually, with great force.
It's dingin' on, isn't? 1876, Alec Forbes, MacDonald, page 193:
An awfu' show'r o' sna' and drift / As ever dang down frae the lift; / Right wild an' monstrous Boreas roar'd. 1832, John Burness, Thrummy Cap, a Tale [in Verse]; and The Brownie O' Fearnden, a Ballad, page 4:
The night turn'd dark an' dang on rain, […] 1821, William Liddle (of Edinburgh.), Poems on different occasions, chiefly in the Scottish dialect, page 226:
cs drbnout (to hit or strike) · ru повреждать (to inflict minor damage on) · ru штрафовать ((colloquial) To deduct, as points) · ru стукнуть (to hit or strike) · fi kolhia (to inflict minor damage on) · fr bigner (to inflict minor damage on) · fr bigner (to hit or strike) · cs škrábnout (to hit or strike) · cs pocuchat (to hit or strike)
ding en · NOUN · etymology 2
Pronunciation
/dɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)
/ˈdɪŋɡ/ (Midlands, Northern-England) without the NG-coalescence
ru дзынь (high-pitched sound of a bell) · sip ཏིང (high-pitched sound of a bell) · uk дзінь (high-pitched sound of a bell) · uk дзеньк (high-pitched sound of a bell) · uk дзень (high-pitched sound of a bell) · el ντιν (high-pitched sound of a bell)
ding en · VERB · etymology 2
Pronunciation
/dɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)
/ˈdɪŋɡ/ (Midlands, Northern-England) without the NG-coalescence
(intransitive) To make a high-pitched resonant sound like a bell.
The fretful tinkling of the convent bell evermore dinging among the mountain echoes. 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC:
These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long. 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
(transitive) To keep repeating; impress by reiteration, with reference to the monotonous striking of a bell.
If I'm to have any good, let it come of itself; not keep dinging it, dinging it into one so. 1884, Oswald Crawfurd, English comic dramatists:
(colloquial, especially, intransitive, qualifier:roleplaying games) To level up.