fling
Americanverb (used with object)
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flings,
present (3rd person singular)
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flung,
past participle, past
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flinging
present participle
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to throw, cast, or hurl with force or violence.
to fling a stone.
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to move (oneself ) violently with impatience, contempt, or the like.
She flung herself angrily from the room.
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to put suddenly or violently.
to fling a suspect into jail.
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to project or speak sharply, curtly, or forcefully.
He flung his answer at the questioner.
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to involve (oneself ) vigorously in an undertaking.
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to move, do, or say (something) quickly.
to fling a greeting in passing.
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to send suddenly and rapidly.
to fling fresh troops into a battle.
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to throw aside or off.
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to throw to the ground, as in wrestling or horseback riding.
verb (used without object)
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flings,
present (3rd person singular)
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flung,
past participle, past
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flinging
present participle
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to move with haste or violence; rush; dash.
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to fly into violent and irregular motions, as a horse; throw the body about, as a person.
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to speak harshly or abusively (usually followed byout ).
He flung out disgustedly against the whole human race.
noun
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flings
plural
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an act of flinging.
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a short period of unrestrained pursuit of one's wishes or desires.
The week of partying was my last fling before starting a new job.
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an attempt at something.
He took a fling at playwriting.
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a critical or contemptuous remark; gibe.
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Also called Highland fling. a lively Scottish dance characterized by flinging movements of the arms and legs.
verb
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to throw, esp with force or abandon; hurl or toss
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to put or send without warning or preparation
to fling someone into jail
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(also intr) to move (oneself or a part of the body) with abandon or speed
he flung himself into a chair
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(usually foll by into) to apply (oneself) diligently and with vigour (to)
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to cast aside; disregard
she flung away her scruples
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to utter violently or offensively
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poetic to give out; emit
noun
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the act or an instance of flinging; toss; throw
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a period or occasion of unrestrained, impulsive, or extravagant behaviour
to have a fling
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any of various vigorous Scottish reels full of leaps and turns, such as the Highland fling
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a trial; try
to have a fling at something different
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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flingsimple
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flingssimple
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have flungperfect
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has flungperfect
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am flingingprogressive
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are flingingprogressive
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is flingingprogressive
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have been flingingperfect progressive
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has been flingingperfect progressive
Past
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flungsimple
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had flungperfect
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was flingingprogressive
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were flingingprogressive
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had been flingingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fling
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; compare Swedish flänga “to fly, race”
Explanation
To fling is to throw something with force. You'll start a food fight in the cafeteria if you fling your vegetables at the kid across the table. The act of throwing something recklessly or with force can also be called a fling. Your mail sorting ritual might be putting bills in one pile and personal letters in another, then giving junk mail a fling into the recycling bin. A brief period of revelry or indulgence is another kind of fling. You and your friends could plan a weekend fling in New York, staying in a hotel, eating out, and shopping without worrying about how much money you spend.
Vocabulary lists containing fling
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The man she was seeing, Kjetil, had already made it clear he was looking for love rather than a fling.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
In this zone, the combined gravitational effects of the two stars either fling planets out of the system or pull them inward until they are destroyed.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026
He maintained a strong and tender marriage, despite his fling with Kahlo, and tried to keep up with the times during breaks from work on his biography of Stalin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
"They will get out, but not like people think. It's not as if they're going to fling the doors open like a bull run."
From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026
I try to fling away my hopeful thoughts.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
The cowboy grips its reins and mane with one hand, his sole sure purchase on the almost upright animal, and flings out his free arm to balance himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
She claims to inhabit the soul of Albert Camus, and flings around aphorisms about art that fly over Cricket’s head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
He flings his lunch against the wall, shattering a piece of Nancy Reagan’s china and leaving a trail of ketchup and hamburger grease on the wallpaper and faux gilt sconce recently procured from Home Depot.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2025
The senior Trudeau had a couple of famous flings of his own with American singer Barbra Streisand and Canadian actress Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City fame.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025
It’s so roomy that she flings out her arms and walks around like that.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
With the grace of a bull in a china shop, Thiero flung himself toward the rim.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
Princeton’s players flung their sticks and gloves into the air.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
"I stepped forward and I flung my arm back - that was my instant reaction," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
Once the closest point of the orbit enters the instability zone, the planet is either flung outward or pulled inward and destroyed.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026
Keeping what few wits he still had left about him, Duane flipped the cork off the flask and flung the contents in the direction of the voice just as C.C. had instructed him to do.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
He relishes the fast and funny dialogue, flinging around fancy words that don’t mean a thing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
"Maybe we're not flinging ourselves off massive jumps or sliding down a track at 80 miles per hour, but it's a lot harder than people realise to even keep your balance."
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
What makes the act of flinging himself upside down so audacious is that it’s entirely gratuitous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
Tunisia midfielder Hannibal Mejbri was luckly to escape a yellow card for dissent after reacting angrily when a Nigerian took a foul throw, flinging the ball into the ground.
From Barron's ● Dec. 27, 2025
He kept flinging pebbles, sending up little explosions of water.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
