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“pang” / noun and adjective

These days I’ve invested much of my time in words — the written sort, rather than spoken [there have too many of those already]. And I’ve become more cautious about their use; it’s often useful to find the etymology and, perhaps, in doing so, to give it more genuine meaning. The word very early this morning was “pang”, which I cannot recall having used in multiple decades.

pang1
/paNG/
noun
nounpangplural nounpangs
  1. a sudden sharp pain or painful emotion.
    “Lindsey experienced a sharp pang of guilt”
Origin
late 15th century: perhaps an alteration of prong.
pang2
/paNG/

adjective

ScottishNorthern Irish
adjectivepang
  1. crammed or densely packed.
    “pang full of meat and bread”
Origin
mid 16th century: origin unknown.
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