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
Test Your Vocabulary
The Great British Vocabulary Quiz
-
- Named after Sir Robert Peel, what are British police called?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
A daily challenge for crossword fanatics.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share ding
Time Traveler for ding
The first known use of ding was in 1582
See more words from the same year