stinging
stinging — 動詞
1. When an insect, spider, or plant uses a sharp pointed part of its body to push p
螫；刺
昆蟲用毒刺注入毒液
When an insect, spider, or plant uses a sharp pointed part of its body to push poison into the skin of a person or animal, causing a painful spot or swelling.
A wasp stung Wei on the arm while he was picking apples in the garden.
Wei 在花園摘蘋果時，手臂被黃蜂螫了一下。
sting + someone + on + body part
The children ran inside crying because a bee had stung the youngest girl on her foot.
孩子們哭著跑進屋裡，因為一隻蜜蜂螫了最小的女孩的腳。
If you step on a sea urchin, its sharp spines will sting your skin badly.
如果你踩到海膽，牠尖銳的刺會嚴重扎傷你的皮膚。
The gardener touched a stinging nettle by mistake and felt a sharp burning sensation on his palm.
園丁不小心碰到蕁麻，手掌立刻感到一陣刺痛的灼熱感。
文法句型
sting + someone/something
sting (+ adverb/preposition)
用法筆記
Subject can be the insect (a bee stung me) or the plant part (the nettle stung me). The passive form (be stung by) is very common in spoken English.
常見錯誤
2. To produce a sudden burning feeling on the skin or in a part of the body, especi
刺痛
皮膚或傷口產生灼痛感
To produce a sudden burning feeling on the skin or in a part of the body, especially when a substance touches a cut or when wind or cold air hits exposed skin.
The soap got into the small cut on Clara's finger and began to sting terribly.
肥皂跑進 Clara 手指上的小傷口，開始劇烈刺痛。
sting triggered by substance entering a wound
Bitter cold air stung Sophie's cheeks as she walked to the bus stop on a freezing morning.
刺骨的冷風吹在 Sophie 的臉頰上，讓她感到刺痛。
When the nurse applied the disinfectant, the wound started to sting for almost a minute.
護士塗上消毒藥水時，傷口刺痛了將近一分鐘。
A strong wind stung Diego's eyes and made it hard to see the road ahead.
強風刺痛了 Diego 的眼睛，讓他看不清前方的路。
文法句型
something stings
sting + someone
用法筆記
Frequently used with body parts (eyes, cheeks, skin, wound) or weather conditions (wind, cold, rain). The subject of the sentence is typically the cause (the wind, the soap) rather than the person feeling the pain.
常見錯誤
3. To make someone feel deeply hurt, offended, or disappointed by what is said or d
傷人感情
言語使人感到受傷或難過
To make someone feel deeply hurt, offended, or disappointed by what is said or done, especially when the criticism is harsh or unexpected.
Diego was stung by his manager's comment that his report was not good enough for the client.
Diego 被主管說他的報告不夠好，這句話傷到了他。
passive: be stung by + criticism
It stung Fatima when her best friend forgot to invite her to the wedding party.
Fatima 的好朋友忘記邀請她參加婚禮，讓她感到很難過。
impersonal: it stings + someone + when + clause
The coach's sharp words stung the players into working much harder before the final match.
教練尖銳的話語刺激了球員們，讓她們在決賽前更加努力練習。
Ananya felt stung by the rumour that someone had spread about her at the office.
Ananya 覺得有人在辦公室散播關於她的謠言，心裡很受傷。
文法句型
be stung by + someone's words/behaviour
it stings + someone + to-infinitive/that-clause
用法筆記
Frequently passive (be stung / feel stung). The subject causing the hurt is typically words, criticism, rejection, or someone's action rather than the person speaking. Distinguish from verb/1: here, no physical contact is involved.
常見錯誤
4. To charge someone far too much money for a product or service, often in a way th
敲詐；坑
收取遠高於合理價格的費用
To charge someone far too much money for a product or service, often in a way that feels dishonest or unfair.
The garage stung Kiran three hundred pounds just to fix a simple brake problem.
那家修車廠只處理一個簡單的煞車問題，卻向 Kiran 收了三百英鎊。
sting + someone + amount of money
Tourists often get stung by street sellers who charge triple the normal price for souvenirs.
觀光客常常被路邊攤販敲詐，以三倍的價格買到紀念品。
passive: get stung by + overcharging person
That restaurant stung us for the bottle of wine — it cost four times the supermarket price.
那家餐廳那瓶酒收了我們超高的價格——比超市貴了四倍。
The homeowners realised they had been stung by the builder when they found cheap materials that did not match the bill.
那對屋主發現被建築商騙了，因為對方使用了廉價材料卻收取高額費用。
- overcharge
neutral and formal; does not carry the same tone of surprise or dishonesty
- rip off
equally informal but more strongly suggests deception
文法句型
sting + someone + (for) + amount/money
get stung + for + amount
用法筆記
Always informal. Common in the passive get stung (everyday speech) or be stung (slightly more narrative). The amount charged typically follows directly or after the preposition for.
常見錯誤
stinging — 名詞
1. A sudden sharp burning feeling on the skin or in part of the body, often caused
灼痛感
皮膚或身體部位的尖銳刺痛
A sudden sharp burning feeling on the skin or in part of the body, often caused by a cut, a chemical substance, or cold weather.
Mei-Lin felt a sharp sting on her wrist when a splash of hot oil jumped out of the frying pan.
Mei-Lin 感覺到手腕一陣刺痛，是熱油從鍋裡濺出來造成的。
feel + a sting + on + body part
The sting of the cold wind made Sophie's eyes water as she hurried across the school yard.
冷風吹得 Sophie 眼睛刺痛，她匆匆走過校園。
After the bee incident, a lingering sting stayed on Yuki's ankle for almost two hours.
被蜜蜂螫到之後，Yuki 的腳踝持續痛了將近兩個小時。
The sting of the salt water on Noah's sunburn was so painful that he cried out loud.
海水打在 Noah 曬傷的皮膚上，痛得他大聲叫了出來。
用法筆記
Often followed by 'of' + the cause (the sting of the wind, the sting of the disinfectant). Can also stand alone (I felt a sting). This is the physical-sensation sense; for emotional pain see noun/2.
2. A feeling of emotional hurt, disappointment, or embarrassment caused by someone'
感情傷害
言語或行為造成的情感傷痛
A feeling of emotional hurt, disappointment, or embarrassment caused by someone's unkind words, rejection, or unfair treatment.
The sting of being left out of the team lasted much longer than Thomas had expected it would.
被球隊排除在外的傷痛，持續的時間遠比 Thomas 預想的要長。
the sting of + -ing phrase (cause)
Clara still felt the sting of the rejection letter from the university she had dreamed of attending since childhood.
Clara 仍感受到那封大學拒絕信帶來的刺痛——那是她從小就夢想的學校。
There was a real sting in her mother's quiet words of disappointment after the exam results arrived.
母親看到成績單後平靜地說出失望的話，那句話裡藏著真正的傷痛。
The sting of the critic's review stayed with the young novelist for many weeks after it was published.
那位年輕小說家在書評刊登後的數週內，都還感受得到評論家那篇評語的刺痛。
用法筆記
Often used with a possessive or 'of' phrase that names the cause (the sting of defeat, her words had a sting). Frequently appears in phrases like 'the sting of rejection' or the idiom 'take the sting out of something'.
常見錯誤
3. The sharp pointed part of an insect, spider, or marine creature that pushes pois
螫針；毒刺
昆蟲或生物注入毒液的尖刺器官
The sharp pointed part of an insect, spider, or marine creature that pushes poison into the skin of another living thing when the animal feels threatened.
The bee left its sting embedded in the gardener's skin and then flew away without it.
蜜蜂的螫針留在了園丁的皮膚裡，然後蜜蜂就飛走了。
possessive: [creature]'s sting
A wasp can use its sting many times because the barbs on it are much smaller than a bee's are.
黃蜂的毒刺可以用很多次，因為上面的倒鉤比蜜蜂的小得多。
The scorpion's sting is located at the very tip of its long curved tail.
蠍子的毒刺位在牠長長彎曲尾巴的最末端。
Yuki examined the honeybee's sting under a microscope and saw the tiny barbs that hook into the skin.
Yuki 用顯微鏡觀察蜜蜂的螫針，看到了那些鉤住皮膚的小倒刺。
- stinger
the same meaning; more common in informal conversation
用法筆記
Refers to the body part itself, not the action or the pain. In everyday speech 'stinger' is more common than 'sting' for this meaning. Compare noun/1 (the sensation) and verb/1 (the action).
4. A carefully planned scheme in which criminals deceive people by pretending to be
騙局；圈套
犯罪集團精心設計的詐騙計畫
A carefully planned scheme in which criminals deceive people by pretending to be honest, in order to steal money or valuable items.
The art sting involved selling fake paintings to wealthy collectors through a fake auction house.
那場藝術品騙局涉及透過一家假拍賣行，將假畫賣給有錢的收藏家。
[type] + sting = compound noun
Police discovered the sting when several elderly victims reported losing their life savings to the investment company.
警方發現這個騙局時，已經有幾名年長受害者把畢生積蓄都投給了那家投資公司。
The gang's sting relied on fake documents that looked identical to official bank papers.
幫派的騙局利用了一堆看起來和正式銀行文件一模一樣的假文件。
An undercover agent joined the sting to gather solid evidence against the smuggling ring operating at the port.
一名臥底探員加入了這個騙局，以便收集指控該港口走私集團的充分證據。
用法筆記
Distinguish from noun/5: this sense describes a scheme run BY criminals, not one run BY police. In news stories 'sting' alone can be ambiguous; look for context clues such as 'gang' or 'scam'.
5. A secret operation in which law enforcement officers pretend to be criminals in
臥底行動；誘捕
警方偽裝成罪犯以逮捕真兇
A secret operation in which law enforcement officers pretend to be criminals in order to catch real criminals while they are committing a crime.
The police set up a sting at the warehouse to arrest the drug dealers during the exchange of money.
警方在倉庫設置了誘捕行動，準備在毒販交易時逮捕他們。
set up a sting = common collocation
An undercover officer ran the sting, posing as a buyer interested in stolen jewellery from the museum.
一名臥底警探假扮成有意購買博物館失竊珠寶的買家，主導了這場誘捕行動。
The FBI's sting operation caught three suspects who were trying to sell secret military documents.
聯邦調查局的臥底行動逮捕了三名試圖出售機密軍事文件的可疑人士。
Diego was shocked to learn that the man offering him cheap electronics was actually part of a police sting.
Diego 驚訝地發現，那個向他推銷便宜電子產品的人，竟然是警方臥底行動的一部分。
- trap
more general; does not specifically describe an undercover police operation
- decoy operation
more technical; less common in everyday language
用法筆記
Almost always followed by 'operation' or used as part of the compound noun 'sting operation'. In news headlines 'sting' alone is common, but in full text 'sting operation' is preferred for clarity.
6. A very short animated sequence, typically lasting only a few seconds, used to id
品牌短動畫
電視頻道或品牌的數秒識別動畫
A very short animated sequence, typically lasting only a few seconds, used to identify a television channel, brand, or programme before or after a commercial break.
The channel's new sting shows a blue bird flying across a city skyline in under three seconds.
這個頻道的新品牌短動畫是一隻藍鳥在三秒內飛過城市天際線。
broadcast/cable channel + sting
Animation students each created a five-second sting for the local TV station's design competition.
動畫系的學生各自為當地電視台的設計比賽創作了五秒鐘的品牌動畫。
The network redesigned its sting to match the modern look of its evening news programmes.
電視台重新設計了它的品牌短動畫，以配合晚間新聞節目的現代風格。
Santi's prize-winning sting for the film festival used simple drawings of a cinema curtain opening.
Santi 為電影節設計的獲獎短動畫，用簡單的線條描繪了電影幕布拉開的樣子。
- ident
the standard term in UK broadcasting; 'sting' is more common in US and animation contexts
用法筆記
Technical term from broadcasting and animation. Not used in general conversation. The closest everyday equivalent is 'ident' (short for 'station identification').