bung
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to beat; bruise; maul (often followed byup ).
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British Slang. to throw or shove carelessly or violently; sling.
noun
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a stopper, esp of cork or rubber, for a cask, piece of laboratory glassware, etc
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short for bunghole
verb
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(often foll by up) to close or seal with or as with a bung
the car's exhaust was bunged up with mud
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slang to throw; sling
adjective
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useless
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to fail or collapse
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to die
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noun
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a gratuity; tip
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a bribe
verb
Etymology
Origin of bung1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English bunge “bung, bunghole,” from Middle Dutch bong(h)e “stopper”
Origin of bung2
First recorded in 1840–50; perhaps from Waga (an Australian Aboriginal language spoken around Kingaroy, southern Queensland) bongī “dead”
Origin of bung3
First recorded in 1815–25; originally Scots variant of bang 1
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.
Lemish, like Kramer, is a diva, always ready to pull the bung from his emotions.
From New York Times • Jan. 6, 2020
Don’t bung them in with all your other laundry, that’s how they get irrevocably separated and, despite best intentions, post-wash pairing just doesn’t happen.
From The Guardian • Aug. 21, 2019
They never knocked the bung out of the beer keg or danced a polka.
From Washington Post • May 20, 2019
These all-day affairs see men and women break down pigs and use every last part, from the blood to the bung.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2019
With trembling lips she said, “And even if we had found the bung, we’d never’ve took it out! It was just a joke. We wouldn’t’ ve sunk it, never!”
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
