bung

[buhng]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bung ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a stopper for the opening of a cask.

a bunghole.

verb (used with object)

to close with or as if with a bung; cork; plug (often followed by up).

Origin of bung

1400–50; late Middle English bunge < Middle Dutch bonge stopper

bung

[buhng]

adjective Australian.

out of order; broken; unusable.

bankrupt.

Slang. dead.

Origin of bung

1840–50; perhaps < Waga (Australian Aboriginal language spoken around Kingaroy, S Queensland) bongī dead

bung

[buhng]

verb (used with object)

to beat; bruise; maul (often followed by up).

British Slang. to throw or shove carelessly or violently; sling.

Origin of bung

1815–25; orig. Scots variant of bang¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bung

blockade, fire, clog, fill, pack, seal, lob, fling, dangle, hoist, hurl, heave, drop, sling, wedge, spigot, occlusion, connection, cork, filling

Examples from the Web for bung

Historical Examples of bung

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 Winds
St. 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.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
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.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
To every gallon put four pounds of good Lisbon sugar, tun it immediately, lay the bung lightly on, and leave it to ferment itself.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton

British Dictionary definitions for bung

bung

noun

a stopper, esp of cork or rubber, for a cask, piece of laboratory glassware, etc

short for bunghole

verb (tr)

(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

Word Origin for bung

C15: from Middle Dutch bonghe, from Late Latin puncta puncture

bung

noun

a gratuity; tip

a bribe

verb

bung it on (tr) to behave in a pretentious manner

Word Origin for bung

C16 (originally in the sense: a purse): perhaps from Old English pung, changed over time through the influence of bung 1

bung

adjective Australian and NZ informal

useless

go bung

to fail or collapse
to die

Word Origin for bung

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

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.