Topic: ANIMALS
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sting2
2 the sharp needle-shaped part of an insect's or animal's body, with which it stings you [= stinger American English]
insect
[countable] British EnglishHBAHBI3 a sharp pain in your eyes or skin, caused by being hit, by smoke etc : 
She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.
pain
[singular]
She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.4 if a story, event, or announcement has a sting in its tail, there is an unpleasant part at the end of it
a sting in the tail
5 [singular] the upsetting or bad effect of a situation : the sting of rejection
the sting of rejection take the sting out of something (=make something less unpleasant or painful) She smiled to take the sting out of her words.
She smiled to take the sting out of her words.6 a clever way of catching criminals in which the police secretly pretend to be criminals themselves
