ding
/dɪŋ/noun, verb
ding is spelled D-I-N-G: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ding means “Very minor damage caused by being struck; a small dent or chip” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ding is dings.
How many letters and syllables are in ding?
| Letters | 4: D-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ding?
Ding appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ding?
- US /dɪŋ/
- /ˈdɪŋɡ/
Ding has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ding.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ding?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ding from its last stressed vowel (/ɪŋ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ding
- dings plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dinging participle, present
- dinged past, participle
- ting
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ding mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalVery minor damage caused by being struck; a small dent or chip.
If you surf regularly, then you're going to ding your board. Here's a rough guide on how to repair them... If the ding is on the rail, run tape across the ding conforming to the rail curve, leaving a gap to pour in resin and make sure it is
- 2
colloquialA rejection.
I just got my first ding letter.
- 3
The high-pitched resonant sound of a bell.
- 4
colloquialThe act of levelling up.
- 5
An ancient Chinese vessel with legs and a lid.
- 6
An indigenous inhabitant of the New Territories entitled to the building a village house under the Small House Policy.
- 7
Australiaoffensivean Italian person, specifically an Italian Australian
- 8
In American Chinese cuisine, cubed or bite-sized meat.
shrimp ding
verb
- 1
To hit or strike.
- 2
To dash; to throw violently.
- 3
colloquialTo inflict minor damage upon, especially by hitting or striking.
If you surf regularly, then you're going to ding your board.
- 4
colloquialTo fire or reject.
His top school dinged him last week.
- 5
colloquialTo 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.
- 6
To mishit (a golf ball).
- 7
ScotlandTo fall heavily and continually, with great force.
- 8
To make a high-pitched resonant sound like a bell.
- 9
To keep repeating; impress by reiteration, with reference to the monotonous striking of a bell.
- 10
colloquialTo level up.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ding in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ding come 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).