tingle
Americanverb (used without object)
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tingles,
present (3rd person singular)
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tingled,
past participle, past
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tingling
present participle
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to have a sensation of slight prickles, stings, or tremors, as from cold, a sharp blow, excitement, etc..
I tingle all over.
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to cause such a sensation.
The scratch tingles.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tinglesimple
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tinglessimple
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have tingledperfect
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has tingledperfect
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am tinglingprogressive
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are tinglingprogressive
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is tinglingprogressive
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have been tinglingperfect progressive
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has been tinglingperfect progressive
Past
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tingledsimple
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had tingledperfect
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was tinglingprogressive
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were tinglingprogressive
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had been tinglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tingle
1350–1400; Middle English tinglen (v.), variant of tinkle
Explanation
When something tingles, it prickles or stings a tiny bit. Walking through a haunted house might make your skin tingle with fear. A cool breeze makes your skin tingle, and a pep rally might leave you tingling with excitement. Tingle can also call be used as a noun: a tingle is similar to a shiver or a shudder, a light sensation that may have an emotional or physical cause. An earlier meaning of tingle was "a ringing sensation or sound."
Vocabulary lists containing tingle
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:
Similarly, his cultural allusions no longer provoke even a tingle, let alone a shock of recognition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Cheesy words in normal circumstances, but that was the moment our spines began to tingle and we knew we were about to witness history.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
As it now exists, it captures the supernatural tingle of little bells, as well as the heart-throb of gongs, all sounding off in the misty distance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
You've talked about getting that tingle when you were presented with this script.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2024
What would she feel like if she couldn't feel the tingle of it in her bones or the growing mark on the back of her neck?
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
If your skin tingles and hair stands on end, it means lightning is about to strike.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2024
Q: My right foot burns and tingles so badly that it’s hard to sleep.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 23, 2022
Kobie Boykins, a mechanical engineer who was instrumental in building the rovers, recalls getting tingles at Opportunity’s first steps.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
The Stanley Cup playoffs — gosh, even the phrase brings tingles to the spine — begin next week.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2022
The smell of bleach tingles in my nose.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Mr. Mapisa said the gas tingled as it touched his wounds.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2022
“As kids we used to hold these 9-volt batteries to our tongues and it tingled, that’s roughly how you have to imagine this,” Lierz says.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 8, 2022
"At that point, the ‘spidey senses’ tingled a little bit."
From Fox News ● Oct. 22, 2021
It kept going and going, long after one of the prettiest 63s anybody ever saw had concluded, until it tingled both the back end of the golf course and the back end of the neck.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2019
The light in the room pulsed, and her skin tingled.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
"I am absolutely slathered up in deep heat right now, my legs are tingling," said England's Amy Hunt after securing silver in the 100m.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Following the collapse she became confused and started experiencing numbness and tingling in her body.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Some develop numbness or tingling in their hands and feet, poor balance, memory problems or what many describe as “brain fog”.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026
Fatigue, joint pain, rashes, brain fog or tingling in the hands and feet can seem like normal signs of aging—but they may also point to an autoimmune disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 2025
I look away from him, but not before his words send my sixth sense tingling.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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.
