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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