different between itching vs stinging

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t???/

Etymology 1

From Middle English ecchinge, ?itchinge, ?icchinde, ?ichande (also unassibilated as yckyng), from Old English ?i??ende (“itching”), from Proto-West Germanic *jukkjandi, present participle of *jukkjan (“to itch”), equivalent to itch +? -ing.

Verb

itching

1. present participle of itch

Etymology 2

From Middle English icchynge, ichynge, ycchenge, yecchyng, ?icchunge (also unassibilated as ?ykynge), equivalent to itch +? -ing.

Noun

itching (plural itchings)

1. A sensation that itches.
   • 1856, Forbes Winslow, The Journal of Psychological Medicine and Mental Pathology (page 71)

     Itchings, hitherto unknown, are felt all over the body, and render my skin sometimes painfully tender, sometimes quite benumbed, as if it were dead.

English

Etymology

From Middle English styngyng; equivalent to sting +? -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?st????/
• Rhymes: -????

Adjective

stinging (comparative more stinging, superlative most stinging)

1. Having the capacity to sting.

   stinging nettles

2. (figuratively) Precise and hurtful
   • 2017 September 27, David Browne, "Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91," Rolling Stone

     That same year, a young Gloria Steinem went undercover as a Playboy Bunny at one of his Playboy Clubs and wrote a stinging inside critique of the magazine's ethos and chauvinism in an article, titled "A Bunny's Tale," which was published in Show magazine.

Derived terms

• stingingly

Verb

stinging

1. present participle of sting

Noun

stinging (plural stingings)

1. The act by which someone receives a sting.

   the stingings of scorpions

   stingings of remorse