ding.
Very minor damage caused by being struck; a small dent or chip.
Meaning & usage
Very minor damage caused by being struck; a small dent or chip.
A rejection.
I just got my first ding letter.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English dingen, dyngen (strong verb), from Old English *dingan (“to ding”), from Proto-West Germanic *dingwan, from Proto-Germanic *dingwaną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰen- (“to beat, push”). Related to Old English denġan, denċġan (“to ding, knock, beat, strike”, weak verb) and Old Norse dengja (“to hammer”, weak verb); both from Proto-Germanic *dangijaną (“to beat, hammer, peen”), causative of *dingwaną. Cognate with Icelandic dengja (“to hammer”), Swedish dänga (“to bang, beat”), Danish dænge (“to bang, beat”), German tengeln, dengeln (“to peen”).
To hit or strike.
To dash; to throw violently.
To inflict minor damage upon, especially by hitting or striking.
To fire or reject.
His top school dinged him last week.
To deduct, as points, from (somebody), in the manner of a penalty; to penalize.
My bank dinged me three bucks for using their competitor's ATM.
To mishit (a golf ball).
To fall heavily and continually, with great force.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English dingen, dyngen (strong verb), from Old English *dingan (“to ding”), from Proto-West Germanic *dingwan, from Proto-Germanic *dingwaną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰen- (“to beat, push”). Related to Old English denġan, denċġan (“to ding, knock, beat, strike”, weak verb) and Old Norse dengja (“to hammer”, weak verb); both from Proto-Germanic *dangijaną (“to beat, hammer, peen”), causative of *dingwaną. Cognate with Icelandic dengja (“to hammer”), Swedish dänga (“to bang, beat”), Danish dænge (“to bang, beat”), German tengeln, dengeln (“to peen”).
The high-pitched resonant sound of a bell.
The act of levelling up.
Where this word comes from
Onomatopoeic. Compare ding-dong,
To make a high-pitched resonant sound like a bell.
To keep repeating; impress by reiteration, with reference to the monotonous striking of a bell.
To level up.
Where this word comes from
Onomatopoeic. Compare ding-dong,
An ancient Chinese vessel with legs and a lid.
Where this word comes from
Romanized from Mandarin 鼎 (dǐng).
An indigenous inhabitant of the New Territories entitled to the building a village house under the Small House Policy.
Where this word comes from
From Cantonese 丁 (ding¹).
an Italian person, specifically an Italian Australian
In American Chinese cuisine, cubed or bite-sized meat.
shrimp ding
chicken ding
Where this word comes from
From Cantonese 丁 (ding¹).
Try it on your idea.
ding has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.