bestung

B3E1S1T1U1N1G2

adjective

Having been stung.

Scrabble 10

Meanings

adjectivebestung (comparative more bestung, superlative most bestung)

comparative more bestung · superlative most bestung

  1. archaicHaving been stung.

    We raced madly for about half a mile, behaving in as wild a manner as the poor bestung animals.

    1872, Sir Henry Morton Stanley, How I Found Livingstone: Travels, Adventures and Discoveries in Central Africa, page 595
    4 more examples

    No sooner was she out of hearing, And not expos'd to take alarm, Than from my restless couch I sprung, As if by swarming wasps bestung.

    1830, William Taylor, Historic Survey of German Poetry: Interspersed with Various Translations, page 383

    After all, however, it was lucky for us that it was so, for the skin over the whole of our bodies was so bestung that we no longer felt the biting of lice or bugs, although it was impossible to get used to the stinging of those other insects.

    1862, Václav Vratislav, Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw: what he saw in Constantinople, in his captivity, page 129

    ...in homicidal feud, By slight punctilio urged, a jealous smart Against his friend be to deal a blow bestung,—

    1904, William Everett, The Italian Poets Since Dante, page 181

    From the day of his landing mosquitoes and black flies marked the Spectator for their own, and before his week at Tijuca was over he was so bestung that his best friend might have been forgiven for passing him upon the street.

    1935, Alfred Emanuel Smith, New Outlook, page 167

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  5. Proto-Germanic*bi
  6. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  7. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  8. Old Englishbe-
  9. Middle Englishbi-
  10. Englishbe-
  11. Englishstung
  12. Englishbestung

From be- + stung.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bestung. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bestung

MLA

“bestung.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bestung. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bestung,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bestung.

Source: bestung on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.