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\ ˈdiŋ 
\
\dinged; dinging; dings
Definition of ding
(Entry 1 of 4)
: to dwell on with tiresome repetition
keeps dinging it into him that the less he smokes the better— Samuel Butler †1902
ding
noun (1) plural dings
Definition of ding (Entry 2 of 4)
: a sharp ringing sound
heard the ding of the timer
ding
noun (2)Definition of ding (Entry 3 of 4)
: an instance of minor surface damage (such as a dent)
ding
verb (2)dinged; dinging; dings
Definition of ding (Entry 4 of 4)
1 informal
a : to strike or knock against
got dinged on the elbow
b : to cause minor surface damage to
ding a car door
c : to do harm to
… has struggled of late to win customers back after reports of a norovirus outbreak … circulated in July, once again dinging the chain's reputation.— Sarah Whitten If they don't hit the mark, their review, pay, and chances at promotion get dinged.— Nanette Byrnes et al.
d : to cause a usually minor injury to
On Jan. 20, Joel Embiid dinged his knee in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The ever-cautious Sixers held the big man out of the next two games with what was described as a "left knee contusion."
2 informal : to penalize or criticize
Joseph's time hasn't been without some controversy, including recently when the state dinged the district for starting the year with several administrators not holding Tennessee teaching and administrative licenses.— Jason Gonzales Historical accounts dinged the Cadburys for not doing enough to help with cocoa worker conditions and slavery in Africa.— Michael S. Rosenwald
Examples of ding in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Teen drivers — Ohio got dinged for issuing learner’s permits to drivers younger than 16 years old.
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Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland, "Ohio’s road-safety laws rank among country’s worst in new survey," 23 Jan. 2020 But the global recession dinged Aussie imports, and critters don’t appeal to younger millennials.
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John Kell, Fortune, "How Australian Winemakers Are Distancing Themselves From the Country’s Reputation for Cheap Bottles," 8 Dec. 2019 Airlines sometimes do bad things to their customers, dinging them with add-on fees, penalizing them when plans change, squeezing them into shrinking seats and bathrooms and occasionally leaving them stranded for a couple of days.
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Scott Mccartney, WSJ, "Six Ways to Improve Air Travel Instantly," 30 Jan. 2019 Still, even off-price retail could get badly dinged by this crisis.
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Phil Wahba, Fortune, "How T.J. Maxx and Ross will (eventually) come out of the coronavirus crisis even stronger," 20 Apr. 2020 When the credit scoring change takes place First the good news: Your credit score isn't about to get dinged in the next few months.
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Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, "Credit scores could take a hit under new, tougher standards: How to protect yours," 29 Jan. 2020 Also, the government won't ding your wages or withhold social security payments for six months under the relief package.
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Jessica Menton, USA TODAY, "Will I get a stimulus check if I defaulted on my student loans?," 16 Apr. 2020 The Ornish diet severely restricts fat, which may be wonderful for your heart, but experts dinged it for being difficult to follow.
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Sara Chodosh, Popular Science, "Experts just ranked the best diets, and their choices will probably surprise you," 3 Jan. 2020 As part of the 2018 district audit, Lewis dinged JCPS for having $1.8 billion in facility needs and for not raising or budgeting enough money to fix buildings.
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Olivia Krauth, The Courier-Journal, "Missed tax increases cost JCPS millions. A district committee wants to make up for that," 25 Nov. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Start by turning off app notifications, and all of those rings, dings, and annoying things that constantly demand your attention.
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Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, "Addicted to your iPhone? It might be time to detox – or at least go on a break," 18 Feb. 2020 Big lenders also are saying homeowners who miss payments due to coronavirus hardships won’t get a ding on their credit or pay late fees.
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Catherine Reagor, azcentral, "What if I can't pay my mortgage? Help for Arizona homeowners who can't make their payments," 2 Apr. 2020 The Sox have taken more dings and dents than the fabled Green Monster this offseason.
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Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "Spring training will offer a welcome diversion after the Red Sox’ offseason of discontent," 9 Feb. 2020 Worse, some car rental companies have figured out a way to profit off the dings and dents by charging their customers even for damage that existed before the rental.
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Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, "It's OK to reject your rental car. Here are five cases where you should ask for another," 7 Feb. 2020 Now, a team of archaeologists has staged modern fights with bronze swords to measure the resulting microscopic dings and dents.
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Andrew Curry, Science | AAAS, "Sword-wielding scientists show how ancient fighting techniques spread across Bronze Age Europe," 17 Apr. 2020 Needless to say, none of her rings are perfectly intact — there’s always a stone missing here, an irreparable ding there, a scratch, a tiny pearl that will never, ever be replaced.
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Tara Duggan, SFChronicle.com, "Alice Waters and daughter Fanny Singer in Q&A about Singer’s memoir of life with Bay Area legend," 30 Mar. 2020 Keighley’s no-show announcement is yet another ding against E3, which has been plagued controversy for over a year.
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Cecilia D'anastasio, Wired, "E3 Is Evolving—and Maybe Not for the Best," 12 Feb. 2020 Buttigieg’s campaign cornerstone about changing the way Washington thinks was an implicit ding, but Buttigieg has leveled more specific and more devastating criticism in the past.
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Time, "Biggest Takeaways from the January Democratic Debate," 15 Jan. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Now on Friday, a Virginia federal judge dinged the site for another $4.8 million for the same infringing behavior, this time from a lawsuit brought by the American Chemical Society.
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David Kravets, Ars Technica, "Piracy site for science research dinged again in court—this time for $4.8M," 6 Nov. 2017 Back inside, clusters of bodies lay crumpled along the ground as ammunition dinged the metal roof of the bar near the back of the venue.
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Author: Wesley Lowery, Alaska Dispatch News, "Two strangers bond over country music and beer. Then the shots started.," 3 Oct. 2017 But a glut of new restaurants and a change in consumer spending habits have dinged the industry.
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Joe Gose, New York Times, "The Food Court Matures Into the Food Hall," 12 Sep. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ding.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for ding
The first known use of ding was in 1582
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