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Pain vs Sting - What's the difference?

pain | sting | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between pain and sting

is that pain is to render uneasy in mind; to disquiet; to distress; to grieve while sting is to hurt, usually by introducing poison or a sharp point, or both.

As a proper noun Pain

is an English surname, variant of Paine.

pain

English

Noun

  • (countable, and, uncountable) An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
    • The greatest difficulty lies in treating patients with chronic pain .
    I had to stop running when I started getting pains in my feet.
  • (uncountable) The condition or fact of suffering or anguish especially mental, as opposed to pleasure; torment; distress; sadness; grief; solicitude; disquietude.
    • In the final analysis, pain is a fact of life.
    The pain of departure was difficult to bear.
  • (countable) An annoying person or thing.
    • Your mother is a right pain .
  • (uncountable, obsolete) Suffering inflicted as punishment or penalty.
    • You may not leave this room on pain of death.
    Interpose, on pain of my displeasure. — Dryden
    We will, by way of mulct or pain , lay it upon him. — Bacon
  • Labour; effort; pains.

    • Usage notes

    * Adjectives often used with "pain": mild, moderate, severe, intense, excruciating, debilitating, acute, chronic, sharp, dull, burning, steady, throbbing, stabbing, spasmodic, etc.

    Synonyms

    * (an annoying person or thing) pest * See also

    Antonyms

    * pleasure

    Hyponyms

    * agony * anguish * pang * neuropathic pain * nociceptive pain * phantom pain * psychogenic pain

    Derived terms

    * pain in the arse * pain in the ass * pain in the back * pain in the bum * pain in the butt * pain in the neck * painkiller * painy

    Related terms

    * pained * painful * painfully * painless * painlessly * painlessness

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To hurt; to put to bodily uneasiness or anguish; to afflict with uneasy sensations of any degree of intensity; to torment; to torture.
    • The wound pained him.
  • To render uneasy in mind; to disquiet; to distress; to grieve.
    • It pains me to say that I must let you go.
  • (obsolete) To inflict suffering upon as a penalty; to punish.

    • References

    * * *

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    sting

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bump left on the skin after having been stung.
  • A bite by an insect.
  • A pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack.
  • A sharp, localised pain primarily on the epidermis
  • (botany) A sharp-pointed hollow hair seated on a gland which secretes an acrid fluid, as in nettles.
  • The thrust of a sting into the flesh; the act of stinging; a wound inflicted by stinging.
  • * Shakespeare
    • the lurking serpent's mortal sting
  • (law enforcement) A police operation in which the police pretend to be criminals in order to catch a criminal.
  • A short percussive phrase played by a drummer to accent the punchline in a comedy show.
  • A brief sequence of music used in films, TV as a form of punctuation in a dramatic or comedic scene. In certain videogames stings are used to predict immediate future actions or to illustrate a current tension or mood.
  • A support for a wind tunnel model which extends parallel to the air flow.
  • *
  • (figurative) The harmful or painful part of something.
  • * Bible, 1 Corinthians xv. 56
    • The sting of death is sin.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=January 19 , author=Jonathan Stevenson , title=Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Just as it appeared Arsenal had taken the sting out of the tie, Johnson produced a moment of outrageous quality, thundering a bullet of a left foot shot out of the blue and into the top left-hand corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net with the Pole grasping at thin air. }}
  • A goad; incitement.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • The point of an epigram or other sarcastic saying.
    • Synonyms
    * (pointed portion of an insect) stinger

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) stingen, from (etyl) . Compare Swedish and Icelandic stinga.

    Verb

  • To hurt, usually by introducing poison or a sharp point, or both.
    • Right so came out an adder of a little heathbush, and it stung a knight in the foot.
    Still, it stung when a slightly older acquaintance asked me why I couldn't do any better.
  • (of an insect) To bite.
  • (sometimes figurative) To hurt, to be in pain.
    • My hand stings after knocking on the door so long.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=January 11 , author=Jonathan Stevenson , title=West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=But Birmingham were clearly stung by some harsh words from manager Alex McLeish at the break and within 15 minutes of the restart the game had an entirely different complexion.}}
  • (figurative) To cause harm or pain to.
    • I thought I could park in front of the hotel, but they stung me for five pounds!
    Derived terms
    * sting like a bee * stingy

    Anagrams

    * English irregular verbs ----