ling

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈliŋ 

1

: any of various fishes (such as a hake or burbot) of the cod family

2

: lingcod

ling

2 of 4

noun (2)

: a heath plant

especially : a common Old World heather (Calluna vulgaris)

-ling

3 of 4

noun suffix

1

: one connected with or having the quality of

hireling

2

: young, small, or inferior one

duckling

-ling

4 of 4

adverb suffix

variants or -lings

: in (such) a direction or manner

sideling

flatling

Examples of ling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Dahl eventually wrote a screenplay called Death, Where is Thy Sting-a-ling-ling? — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2026

Desperate to try Cherry Thing-a-lings? — Kaycee Sloan, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 Jan. 2026

The sand eels, pilchards, ling and dogfish are missing on this occasion, but everything depends upon the season. — Anabel Dean, CNN, 23 Jan. 2023

And don’t miss The Courtney Room for dinner, where the slow baked ling cod with summer squash is a must taste. — Celeste Moure, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Aug. 2021

Nicknamed in various parts of North America as ling, lawyer, cusk or mud shark — the once-lowly burbot is being elevated in Minnesota from unprotected rough fish to game fish. — Tony Kennedy, Star Tribune, 14 Jan. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English; akin to Dutch leng ling, Old English lang long

Noun (2)

Middle English, from Old Norse lyng

Noun suffix

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old English -ing

Adverb suffix

Middle English -ling (from Old English), -linges (from -ling + -es -s); akin to Old High German -lingūn -ling, Old English lang long

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ling

• ding-a-ling

Rhymes for ling

• bing
• bring
• ching
• cling
• ding
• fling
• anything
• colouring
• everything
• nuzzling
• snorkeling
• splattering

Kids Definition

-ling

noun suffix

liŋ

1

: one connected with or having the quality of

hireling

2

: young, small, or minor one

duckling

Etymology

Noun suffix

Old English -ling (noun suffix) "one having the quality of …"