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pungere

to sting

verb POON-jeh-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin pungere (to prick, sting).

Also means

to prick

Usage Note

Pungere is an irregular second-conjugation verb: past participle punto, past absolute punsi. It means to sting (bee, nettle) or prick (needle, thorn), and figuratively to sting with words: una critica che punge (a stinging criticism). The noun punto (stitch, point, sting) shares this root. It takes avere as auxiliary: L'ape l'ha punto (The bee stung him).

Examples

"Un'ape mi ha punto sul braccio."

Natural Translation

A bee stung me on the arm.

Literal Translation

A bee me has stung on-the arm.

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