different between sling vs shanghai

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English slynge (noun), slyngen (verb), probably from Old Norse slyngja, slyngva (“to hurl”), from Proto-Germanic *slingwan? (“to worm, twist”) or compare Old English slingan (“to wind, twist”), from the same source.

Compare German schlingen (“to swing, wind, twist”), Danish and Norwegian slynge), from Proto-Indo-European *slenk (“to turn, twist”) (compare Welsh llyngyr (“worms, maggots”), Lithuanian sliñkti (“to crawl like a snake”), Latvian slìkt (“to sink”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sl??/
• Rhymes: -??

Verb

sling (third-person singular simple present slings, present participle slinging, simple past and past participle slung or slang)

1. To throw with a circular or arcing motion.
   • 2000, Bible (World English), Judges xx. 16

     Everyone could sling stones at an hairbreadth, and not miss.
2. To throw with a sling.
3. (nautical) To pass a rope around (a cask, gun, etc.) preparatory to attaching a hoisting or lowering tackle.
4. (slang) To sell, peddle, or distribute illicitly (e.g. drugs, sex, etc.).
   • 2008, Breaking Bad, Season 1, Episode 6:

     You may know a lot about chemistry man but you don't know jack about slinging dope.

Derived terms

• undersling

Translations

Noun

sling (plural slings)

1. (weapon) An instrument for throwing stones or other missiles, consisting of a short strap with two strings fastened to its ends, or with a string fastened to one end and a light stick to the other.
2. A kind of hanging bandage put around the neck, in which a wounded arm or hand is supported.
3. A loop of cloth, worn around the neck, for supporting a baby or other such load.
4. A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.
5. A strap attached to a firearm, for suspending it from the shoulder.
6. (nautical, chiefly in the plural) A band of rope or iron for securing a yard to a mast.
7. The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke.
8. (climbing) A loop of rope or fabric tape used for various purposes: e.g. as part of a runner, or providing extra protection when abseiling or belaying.
9. A drink composed of a spirit (usually gin) and water sweetened.

   gin sling

   a Singapore sling

Derived terms

• ass in a sling
• gin sling
• Singapore sling
• slingshot
• slingstone
• staff sling

Translations

Etymology 2

From a shortening of spiderling.

Noun

sling (plural slings)

1. A young or infant spider, such as one raised in captivity.

Further reading

• Sling in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• -lings, Lings, lings

Middle English

Noun

sling

1. Alternative form of slynge

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??æ??ha?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??æ?.ha?/, /??æ??ha?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Etymology 1

American English, from Shanghai, with reference to the former practice of forcibly crewing ships heading for the Orient.

Verb

shanghai (third-person singular simple present shanghais, present participle shanghaiing, simple past and past participle shanghaied)

1. (transitive) To force or trick (someone) into joining a ship as part of the crew.

   Synonym: press-gang

   • 1999 June 24, ‘The Resurrection of Tom Waits’, in Rolling Stone, quoted in Innocent When You Dream, Orion (2006), page 256,

     It was the strangest galley: the sounds, the steam, he's screaming at his coworkers. I felt like I'd been shanghaied.

2. (transitive) To abduct or coerce.

   Synonym: press-gang

   • 1974 September 30, ‘Final Report on the Activities of the Children of God',

     Oftentimes the approach is to shanghai an unsuspecting victim.
3. (transitive, US) To trick (a person) into entering a jurisdiction where they can lawfully be arrested.
4. (transitive) To commandeer; appropriate; hijack

5. (transitive, military, slang) To transfer (a person) against their will.
   • 2020, Stephen Crane, ?Ambrose Bierce, The Military MEGAPACK®: 25 Great Tales of War (page 329)

     “Why, if you so loved and cherished the armed guard,” Captain Banning continued, “did you arrange for transfer?”
     “I never, sir! ... But he shanghaied me out of the armed guard pronto.”

Translations

Noun

shanghai (plural shanghais)

1. (US, archaic) A tall dandy.

Etymology 2

From Scottish shangan, from Scottish Gaelic seangan, influenced by the Chinese city.

Noun

shanghai (plural shanghais)

1. (Australia, New Zealand) A slingshot.
   • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, p. 206:

     They scrounged around the camp […] and held out their filthy wings to the feeble sun, making themselves an easy target for Charles's shanghai.

Translations

References