Bung

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʌŋ

From Medieval Dutch bonge, bonne or bonghe ("stopper"), or perhaps from French bonde, which may itself be either of origin, or from Proto-Celtic *bunda - either way probably from puncta ("hole"), the feminine singular form of Latin punctus, perfect passive participle of pungō ("pierce into, prick").

Full definition of bung

Noun

1. A stopper, alternative to a cork, often made of rubber used to prevent fluid passing through the neck of a bottle, vat, a hole in a vessel etc.
• 1996, Dudley Pope, Life in Nelson's NavyWith the heavy seas trying to broach the boat they baled — and eventually found someone had forgotten to put the bung in.
• 2008, Christine Carroll, The Senator's DaughterAndre pulled the bung from the top of a barrel, applied a glass tube with a suction device, and withdrew a pale, almost greenish liquid.
2. A cecum or anus, especially of a slaughter animal.
3. (slang) A bribe.
• 2006, December 21, Leader, Poorly tackled, It is almost a year since Luton Town's manager, Mike Newell, decided that whistle-blowing was no longer the preserve of referees and went public about illegal bungs.
4. The orifice in the bilge of a cask through which it is filled; bunghole.
5. (obsolete, slang) A sharper or pickpocket.
• ShakespeareYou filthy bung, away.

Verb

1. (transitive) To plug, as with a bung.
• 1810, Agricultural Surveys: Worcester (1810)It has not yet been ascertained, which is the precise time when it becomes indispensable to bung the cider. The best, I believe, that can be done, is to seize the critical moment which precedes the formation of a pellicle on the surface...
• 2006, A. G. Payne, Cassell's Shilling CookeryPut the wine into a cask, cover up the bung-hole to keep out the dust, and when the hissing sound ceases, bung the hole closely, and leave the wine untouched for twelve months.
2. (UK, Australian, transitive, informal) To put somewhere without care; chuck.
• 2004, Bob Ashley, Food and cultural studiesAnd to sustain us while we watch or read, we go to the freezer, take out a frozen pizza, bung it in the microwave and make do.''
3. (transitive) To batter, bruise; to cause to bulge or swell.
4. (transitive) To pass a bribe.

Derived terms

• bung it on
• bung on

From Yagara bang ("dead").

Adjective

1. (Australia, NZ, slang) Broken, not in working order.
• 1922, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Karen Oslund (introduction), , 2004, page 365,The evening we reached the glacier Bowers^{href="http://freewordfinder.com/dictionary/w/">Henry Robertson Bowers} wrote:...My right eye has gone bung, and my left one is pretty dicky.
• 1953, Eric Linklater, A Year of Space, page 206,‘Morning Mrs. Weissnicht. I′ve just heard as how your washing-machine′s gone bung.’
• 1997, Lin Van Hek, The Ballad of Siddy Church, page 219,It′s the signal box, the main switchboard, that′s gone bung!
• 2006, Pip Wilson, Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push, page 9,Henry had said, “Half a million bloomin′ acres. A quarter of a million blanky sheep shorn a year, and they can′t keep on two blokes. It′s not because wer′e union, mate. It′s because we′re newchums. Something′s gone bung with this country.”

Derived terms

• go bung