wingding

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Wingding

English

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Etymology 1

[edit]

Reduplication of wing (arm).

Alternative forms

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

wingding (plural wingdings)

  1. (slang) A fit or spasm.
    • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 243:
      ‘She threw a wingding. Looked like a mild epileptic fit to me.’
  2. (slang) A party.
    • 1982, Donald Fagen (lyrics and music), “New Frontier”, in The Nightfly:
      Yes we're gonna have a wingding / A summer smoker underground
Translations
[edit]

Further reading

[edit]

Etymology 2

[edit]

After the Wingdings font developed by Microsoft in 1990. Its name was presumably derived from dingbat and earlier senses of wingding.

Noun

[edit]

wingding (plural wingdings)

  1. (computing, typography) A dingbat (ornamental typographical symbol), especially one from the Wingdings font.
    • 2004, Mary Millhollon, Katherine Murray, Microsoft Office Word 2003 Inside Out, page 202:
      Instead of going through the menu selections needed to insert a special symbol like a Wingding, you can rely on AutoCorrect to substitute the symbol for the text you type []
    • 2011, Suzanne Gilad, Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies, page 179:
      Don't know a wingding from a ring-a-ding-ding? Check out one of the For Dummies books on Microsoft Office.