bung1
[buhng]
- a stopper for the opening of a cask.
- a bunghole.
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- to close with or as if with a bung; cork; plug (often followed by up).
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Origin of bung1
1400–50; late Middle English bunge < Middle Dutch bonge stopper
bung2
[buhng]
Origin of bung2
1840–50; perhaps < Waga (Australian Aboriginal language spoken around Kingaroy, S Queensland) bongī dead
bung3
[buhng]
- to beat; bruise; maul (often followed by up).
- British Slang. to throw or shove carelessly or violently; sling.
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Origin of bung3
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bung
Historical Examples
Close the bung, and in about six weeks it will be fit for bottle.
The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;Charlotte Campbell Bury
It'll be bung full of women but it won't have a word of slop from beginning to end!
Changing WindsSt. John G. Ervine
Let it remain in this state till the next day, in order to ascertain whether the cask be quite tight, and then bung it up.
In two or three days put a bottle of brandy to every four gallons, bung it close, but leave the vent peg out a few days.
To every gallon put four pounds of good Lisbon sugar, tun it immediately, lay the bung lightly on, and leave it to ferment itself.
bung1
- a stopper, esp of cork or rubber, for a cask, piece of laboratory glassware, etc
- short for bunghole
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- (often foll by up) to close or seal with or as with a bungthe car's exhaust was bunged up with mud
- British and Australian slang to throw; sling
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Word Origin
C15: from Middle Dutch bonghe, from Late Latin puncta puncture
bung2
- a gratuity; tip
- a bribe
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- bung it on (tr) to behave in a pretentious manner
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Word Origin
C16 (originally in the sense: a purse): perhaps from Old English pung, changed over time through the influence of bung 1
bung3
- useless
- go bung
- to fail or collapse
- to die
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Word Origin
C19: from a native Australian language
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for bung
n.
mid-15c., "large stopper for a cask," from Middle Dutch bonge "stopper;" or perhaps from French bonde "bung, bunghole" (15c.), which may be of Germanic origin (or the Germanic words may be borrowed from Romanic), or it may be from Gaulish *bunda (cf. Old Irish bonn, Gaelic bonn, Welsh bon "base, sole of the foot"). It is possible that either or both of these sources is ultimately from Latin puncta in the sense of "hole." Transferred to the cask-mouth itself (also bung-hole) from 1570s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper