"slings and arrows" meaning in English

{
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  "etymology_text": "Coined by the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616) in his play Hamlet (written 1599–1601; first published 1604 in the second quarto), referring to fortune attacking a person, as if using slingshots and arrows: see the quotation.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "slings and arrows pl (plural only)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "hyphenation": [
    "slings"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Hardships or adverse circumstances."
      ],
      "id": "en-slings_and_arrows-en-noun-0Dzvpje4",
      "links": [
        [
          "Hardships",
          "hardship"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ],
        [
          "circumstances",
          "circumstance#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "misfortunes"
        },
        {
          "word": "setbacks"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "73 27",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "hardships or adverse circumstances — see also hardship",
          "word": "koettelemus"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "24 76",
          "kind": "other",
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            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "29 71",
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          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013 June 24, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States (dissenting judgment), “Vance v. Ball State University et al.”, in Christine Luchok Fallon, reporter, United States Reports: Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court at October Term, 2012 […] (No. 11-556), volume 570, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Office, published 2018, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 454",
          "text": "Exposed to a fellow employee's harassment, one can walk away or tell the offender to \"buzz off.\" A supervisor's slings and arrows, however, are not so easily avoided. An employee who confronts her harassing supervisor risks, for example, receiving an undesirable or unsafe work assignment or an unwanted transfer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Harsh criticism or personal attacks."
      ],
      "id": "en-slings_and_arrows-en-noun-ZJBeEBXI",
      "links": [
        [
          "Harsh",
          "harsh#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "criticism",
          "criticism"
        ],
        [
          "personal attack",
          "personal attack"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "16 84",
          "word": "criticize"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "barbs"
        },
        {
          "word": "broadsides"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹəʊz/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈɛ(ə)ɹoʊz/",
      "note": "General American, Mary–marry–merry merger"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹoʊz/",
      "note": "US, Mary–marry–merry distinction"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-slings and arrows.oga",
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      "tags": [
        "General-American"
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    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Hamlet"
  ],
  "word": "slings and arrows"
}

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    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English idioms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English pluralia tantum",
    "English terms coined by William Shakespeare",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂érkʷo-",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *slenk-",
    "English terms first attested in Shakespeare",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links"
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  "etymology_text": "Coined by the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616) in his play Hamlet (written 1599–1601; first published 1604 in the second quarto), referring to fortune attacking a person, as if using slingshots and arrows: see the quotation.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "slings and arrows pl (plural only)",
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  "hyphenation": [
    "slings"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "criticize"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Hardships or adverse circumstances."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Hardships",
          "hardship"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ],
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          "circumstances",
          "circumstance#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "misfortunes"
        },
        {
          "word": "setbacks"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013 June 24, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States (dissenting judgment), “Vance v. Ball State University et al.”, in Christine Luchok Fallon, reporter, United States Reports: Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court at October Term, 2012 […] (No. 11-556), volume 570, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Office, published 2018, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 454",
          "text": "Exposed to a fellow employee's harassment, one can walk away or tell the offender to \"buzz off.\" A supervisor's slings and arrows, however, are not so easily avoided. An employee who confronts her harassing supervisor risks, for example, receiving an undesirable or unsafe work assignment or an unwanted transfer.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Harsh criticism or personal attacks."
      ],
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        [
          "Harsh",
          "harsh#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "criticism",
          "criticism"
        ],
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          "personal attack",
          "personal attack"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "barbs"
        },
        {
          "word": "broadsides"
        }
      ],
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        "idiomatic",
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹəʊz/",
      "tags": [
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      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈɛ(ə)ɹoʊz/",
      "note": "General American, Mary–marry–merry merger"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹoʊz/",
      "note": "US, Mary–marry–merry distinction"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-slings and arrows.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/30/En-us-slings_and_arrows.oga/En-us-slings_and_arrows.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/En-us-slings_and_arrows.oga",
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  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "hardships or adverse circumstances — see also hardship",
      "word": "koettelemus"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Hamlet"
  ],
  "word": "slings and arrows"
}