subs. (common).—Generic for anything exceptional: e.g., a heavy blow, a sharp rebuke, a vexatious occurrence, &c., &c. Hence STINGING = keen, sharp, telling.

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  1613.  WEBSTER, The Devil’s Law-case, iv. 2. San. That’s a STINGER: ’tis a good wench, be not daunted.

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  1657.  MIDDLETON, More Dissemblers besides Women, iii. 2.

                            That malice
Wears no dead flesh about it, ’tis a STINGER.

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  1863.  C. READE, Hard Cash, xliii. Rooke … received a STINGER that staggered him, and nearly closed his right eye.

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  1873.  O. W. HOLMES, Address for the Opening of the Fifth Avenue Theatre. The STINGING lash of wit.

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  1888.  Sporting Life, 21 Nov. Planted a couple of well-delivered STINGERS on Harris’s nasal.

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