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

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

Pursuing parasites in the lab: Step one: discard the filet from this ling cod. —Kenneth R. Weiss, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2018

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

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 …"