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
It’s the kind of sour that will make your tongue tingle and, eventually, feel raw.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2025
That fall morning in 2022, the furniture refinisher, who was 36 at the time, felt his limbs begin to tingle as he took the clamps off a table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025
My throat and the inside of my nose start to tingle, but I try my best to hide it.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
“I have felt the energy running through my body like little tingles in spaces where I don’t usually feel that.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2025
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
It was partially open, and the thrum of a half-finished story sent tingles up my spine and down into my fingertips.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
But no matter how much water or electrolyte solution she drank, her legs tingled and her head spun.
From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
“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
After the workout, Curtis said, his whole body tingled with soreness, and he was convinced.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2020
Hazel’s skin tingled coolly, as if she’d been rubbed with alcohol.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
The vocals throughout have that patented, tingling Jayhawks sound; the instrumentals are as sharp as fans will recall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Let's spin a web back to the past and compare how they looked when their spider-senses first started tingling to now.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
These symptoms are not specific to B12 deficiency, so persistent tiredness, tingling or balance problems should be checked rather than assumed to be a simple vitamin problem.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026
These videos became an online phenomenon more than a decade ago - which some people claim causes them to feel a tingling sensation.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
And there she crouched, still as a mouse, and tingling all over.
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
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.
