Etymology 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. Cognate with Icelandic dengja (“to hammer”), Swedish dänga (“to bang, beat”), Danish dænge (“to bang, beat”), German tengeln, dengeln (“to peen”).
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Informal Very minor damage caused by being struck; a small dent or chip.
Mike hit the bottom and picked up a little ding on his head.1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:
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 sealed to prevent resin escaping and forming dribbles.2007 September, “Ding Repairs”, BBC Wales, archived on 5 October 2014
Etymology 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. Cognate with Icelandic dengja (“to hammer”), Swedish dänga (“to bang, beat”), Danish dænge (“to bang, beat”), German tengeln, dengeln (“to peen”).
to ding the book a coit's distance from him1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
The butcher's axe (like great Alcides' bat) / Dings deadly downe ten thousand thousand flat.1630, Taylor's Works:
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Colloquial To inflict minor damage upon, especially by hitting or striking.
If you surf regularly, then you're going to ding your board.2007 September, “Ding Repairs”, BBC Wales, archived on 5 October 2014
Colloquial To 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.
[…] [E]mployees don't feel like they're going to get dinged on performance reviews because they had the same goals as a guy who had been there all 12 months with no leave.2015 August 7, Ron Lieber, “Bringing paternity leave into the mainstream [print version: Paid leave expands for fathers, but will there be any takers?, International New York Times, 10 August 2015, p. 14]”, in The New York Times:
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Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To mishit (a golf ball).
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Scotland, Of rain To fall heavily and continually, with great force.
The night turn'd dark an' dang on rain, […]1821, William Liddle (of Edinburgh.), Poems on different occasions, chiefly in the Scottish dialect, page 226:
An awfu' show'r o' sna' and drift / As ever dang down frae the lift; / Right wild an' monstrous Boreas roar'd.1832, John Burness, Thrummy Cap, a Tale [in Verse]; and The Brownie O' Fearnden, a Ballad, page 4:
1 more example
It's dingin' on, isn't?1876, Alec Forbes, MacDonald, page 193:
To make a high-pitched resonant sound like a bell.
The fretful tinkling of the convent bell evermore dinging among the mountain echoes.1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC:
These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long.1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
2
To keep repeating; impress by reiteration, with reference to the monotonous striking of a bell.
If I'm to have any good, let it come of itself; not keep dinging it, dinging it into one so.1884, Oswald Crawfurd, English comic dramatists: