Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. ‘something that stings or smarts, e.g. a sharp blow, or the hand that delivers it’ (OED) .

c.1615		Middleton More Dissemblers Besides Women III ii: That malice Wears no dead flesh about it, ’tis a stinger.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 166: Stinger — a sharp and rapid hit generally understood to be placed upon the ‘upper works,’ is described as ? ‘My eyes, what a stinger!’.
1829		Bell’s Life in London 9 Aug. 3/2: Ned delivered a right-handed ‘stinger’ on the body [...] which drew a stream of claret.
1832		Quid 263: That was a stinger indeed for him.
1842		Flash (N.Y.) 10 July 2/2: Both men made good play, Lilly making several feints; succeeding in first reaching his man, which he did by planting a stinger on his ivories.
1847		Bell’s Life in Sydney 10 Apr. 2/4: Hough napped a fearful stinger on the right ear.
1855		(con. 1824) Fights for the Championship 73: The latter, after receiving some awkward stingers, set to.
1857		Bell’s Life in Victoria (Melbourne) 16 May 4/4: Thorpe [...] napped a stinger on the side of the nob.
1859		Wkly Varieties (Boston, MA) 3 Sept. 3/4: Deserving of the Lash [...] Sentence — his coat to be dusted by ten stingers.
1863		C. Reade Hard Cash III 124: Rooke [...] received a stinger that staggered him, and nearly closed his right eye.
1870		Bell’s Life in Sydney 21 May 2/5: Carstairs returned a stinger on the head.
1883		J. Greenwood Tag, Rag & Co. 221: ‘How long a time does it take to give a man twenty-five lashes?’ I asked him [...] ‘They lay it on pretty well as regular as clockwork; and you can tell to a tick when the next stinger is coming. I should think twenty-five might take as many ’arf minutes.’.
1884		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 19 Jan. 3/1: Cherubini was knocked out in the second round with a stinger on the nose.
1891		G.R. Sims ‘Pickpocket Poems’ Dagonet Ditties 93: Whack came a couple of stingers— / Two beauties—and right on my lug.
1908		N.Y. American 8 Oct. in Fleming Unforgettable Season (1981) 314: Someone landed a stinger on Pfiester’s right jaw.
1927		(con. 1835–40) P. Herring Bold Bendigo 209: Then he let go a stinger. It was a good blow, a straight left that sent Bendigo’s head back.
1930		K. Brush Young Man of Manhattan 52: Toby was whacked from the rear by a thing called a stinger.
1943		R.L. Bellem ‘Half-Size Homicide’ in Speed Detective Nov. 🌐 [She] slapped me a stinger across the chops. The open-handed smack caught me unawares.
1959		I. & P. Opie Lore and Lang. of Schoolchildren (1977) 401: ‘Six of the best’ or ‘Six swishes’ or ‘Six stingers’. A ‘stinger’ is a hard blow.

2. a swig of alcohol.

1865

Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 37/2: Ikey at once doffed his ‘cady,’ and forking his ‘duke’ through his curly hair, ‘bolted a stinger,’ and began [to sing].

3. something, or someone noteworthy.

1843		R.S. Surtees Handley Cross (1854) 360: That renowned man, Mr Pomponious Hego, ’unts with to-morrow with our unrivalled ’ounds, and i would fain give him a stinger.
1853		R.S. Surtees Mr Sponge’s Sporting Tour 122: [of a hunt] ‘In for a stinger, my lord,’ observed Jack [...] ‘Hope so,’ replied his lordship.
1859		H. Kingsley Recollections of G. Hamlyn (1891) 92: I suppose they’ll come next Sunday though, to see the new parson; my best plan will be to give them a stinger, so that they’ll come again.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 31/1: I’ll bet my life it’s a ‘stinger,’ for I ‘piped’ one end of it crammed with ‘pap,’ when the ‘moll flashed’ it in the Custom-house.
1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 13: Aw, fooey! I’ll bet he’s a stinger. I wouldn’t mind getting up close to him.

4. (Aus./US) any period of extreme weather, hot or cold.

1836		N.Y. Transcript 3 Feb. 2/3: Good morning, John. This is a stinger, any how.
1899		‘Steele Rudd’ On Our Selection (1953) 23: It’ll be a stinger tonight.
1958		H.E. Bates Darling Buds of May (1985) 100: Going to be a stinger. Going to be a wonderful afternoon.

5. in fig. use, ‘something that causes sharp distress, a pungent speech or crushing argument’ (OED) .

1816		J.H. Lewis Lectures on Art of Writing (1840) 61: I wor determin’d to put up a stinger for um [...] ‘All those kiddys what don’t come to larn the new way to write, by to-morrow, dinner time, ’twill be all dick’y wee um.’.
1899		Kipling ‘Slaves of the Lamp’ Pt II Complete Stalky & Co. (1987) 294: Well, I sent him no end of an official stinger, and I pitched in an unofficial telegram at the same time.
1903		A. Kleberg Slang Fables from Afar 32: His arguments were unlimited and he set some stingers agoing on the other side.
1908		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 157: Mutt threw the stinger into the books yesterday.
1923		W. Holtby Anderby Wold (1981) 169: Have you seen this week’s Northern Clarion? By Jove [...] There’s a stinger there, a regular stinger.
1932		S. Beckett Dream of Fair to Middling Women (1993) 64: I don’t know how to write a stinger in English, I always overdo it. In French I can write a fine stinger.
1949		J.H. Burns Lucifer with a Book 84: Even this appellation fell like a stinger from his lips.

6. (US prison) a disciplinary report.

1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 212/1: Stinger. [...] 2. (P) A report for rule violation.

7. (US) the penis.

1930		B. Carter ‘I’m an Old Bumble Bee’ 🎵 Hey I’m an old bumble bee, a stinger just as long as my arm, / I sting the good lookin’ women everywhere i goes along.
1970		in P.R. Runkel Law Unto Themselves 79: My stinger was covered with’t [i.e. semen].

8. (US drugs) a hypodermic syringe.

1959

J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.

9. (US black/prison) a hotplate that is run from two wires attached to a light socket [sting v. (4) or SE string, i.e. the wires; note Maledicta V:1+2 267: ‘The stinger consists of wires with both ends exposed. One end is inserted into an electrical socket and the other is placed in the water to heat it, to prepare coffee’].

1980		Jackson & Christian Death Row 13: He gets hot water for those without ‘stingers,’ electric immersion heaters.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 66: Bug also Stinger An electrical device that heats water. Most bugs are used to heat water one cup at a time for coffee or tea.
2000		Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Stinger: Appliance used to heat water, which may be created by attaching live electrical wires to a metal plate.

10. (US prison) the base ingredient of illicitly distilled prison liquor.

2019

D. Winslow Border [ebook] The stinger itself [...] was carefully hidden away [...] and only taken out when it was time to make another batch of clear.