bung eye
Australian English term for an infected or inflamed eye, particularly conjunctivitis or an eye that has swollen shut due to infection or injury.
Definitions
Australian English term for an infected or inflamed eye, particularly conjunctivitis or an eye that has swollen shut due to infection or injury. 'Bung' in Australian English means broken, blocked, or non-functional (cf. 'bung knee', 'bung ear'), making 'bung eye' a straightforward compound. The term is informal and widely understood across Australia in everyday health conversations. 'Bung' is one of Australian English's most useful informal adjectives.
He woke up with a bung eye and had to visit the chemist before work.
Comments
Australian slang for an infected, swollen, or gunky eye — the kind that's crusted shut in the morning or red and weeping from an infection. 'Bung' is a versatile Australian adjective meaning broken, busted, or not working properly (a 'bung knee', a 'bung deal'), and applied to an eye it captures the blocked, malfunctioning quality of conjunctivitis or a stye perfectly. Casual and expressive, it's exactly the sort of word Australian English does best.
I woke up with a proper bung eye — couldn't even open it until I'd bathed it with warm water.
Comments
(AU) An infected eye.
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(US, slang, intransitive, usually of eyes) To protrude or bulge.
- bunged up67%
In British English, 'bunged up' means having a blocked or congested nose — the kind that makes you sound like you're speaking through wet cardboard. In Canadian English it shifts meaning to constipated. Either way, the word 'bung' (to block or plug) does the heavy lifting. It's the sort of honest, unglamorous phrase that tells everyone exactly how rough your week has been without requiring further elaboration.
- bunger64%
(Australia) A type of simple firecracker that explodes to give an extremely loud noise.