ding

Etymology 1

From Middle English dingen, dyngen (strong verb), from Old English *dingan (“to ding”), from Proto-Germanic *dingwaną (“to beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰen- (“to beat, push”). Related to Old English dengan (“to ding, 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”).

noun

1. (informal) Very minor damage, 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 sealed to prevent resin escaping and forming dribbles. 2007 September, “Ding Repairs”, BBC Wales, archived on 5 October 2014
2. (colloquial) A rejection.
   I just got my first ding letter.

verb

1. (transitive) To hit or strike.
2. To dash; to throw violently.
3. (transitive) 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
4. (transitive, colloquial) To fire or reject.
   His top school dinged him last week.
5. (transitive, 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. 7 August 2015, 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
6. (transitive, golf) To mishit (a golf ball).

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic. Compare ding-dong,

noun

1. The high-pitched resonant sound of a bell.
2. (colloquial, roleplaying games, especially video games) The act of levelling up.

verb

1. (intransitive) To make high-pitched sound like a bell.
2. (transitive) 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
3. (intransitive, colloquial, roleplaying games, especially video games) To level up.

Etymology 3

Romanized from Mandarin 鼎 (dǐng).

noun

1. An ancient Chinese vessel with legs and a lid.

Etymology 4

From Cantonese 丁 (ding¹).

noun

1. (Hong Kong) An indigenous inhabitant of the New Territories entitled to the building a village house under the Small House Policy.