I. iŋ, ēŋ, ə̇n, ēn after any sound; after t ( but usually not when f, k, p, or s precedes ) & after d ( but usually not when l or n precedes ), ə n; after k ( but usually not when s precedes ) or g, sometimes ə ŋ; after p, b, or v ( the v assimilating to b), sometimes ə m as in ˈräb ə m for “robbing” or ˈmüb ə m for “moving”; in rapid speech, often ŋ or n after ē, ā, ī, or ȯi as in ˈsāŋ or ˈsān for “saying”; in NewEng often with intrusive r preceding when ȯ is the last sound in the infinitive form as in ˈdrȯriŋ or ˈdrȯrin for “drawing”; some have ŋ as their only consonant in this suffix & regard any other consonant as inelegant or substandard; some use consonants other than ŋ chiefly in informal speech; some use consonants other than ŋ for all styles of speech & of these some regard ŋ as artificial; for economy of space, ŋ is usually the only consonant shown for the suffix -ing in entries in this dictionary verb suffix or adjective suffix
Etymology: Middle English -inge, -ing, alteration (influenced by -inge -ing (III)) of -inde, -ende, from Old English -ende, from -e- (vowel historically belonging to the verb stem) + -nde, present participle suffix — more at -ant
— used to form the present participle
go ing
sail ing
and sometimes to form an adjective resembling a present participle but not derived from a verb
hulk ing
swashbuckl ing
regularly accompanied by omission of final postconsonantal e of the base word
hop ing
lov ing
change of final ie of the base word to y
ty ing
or doubling of the final consonant of the base word immediately after a short stressed vowel
hopp ing
plann ing
II. noun suffix
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English -ing, -ung one of a (specified) kind, one belonging to, one descended from; akin to Old High German -ing one of a (specified) kind, one belonging to, one descended from, Old Norse -ingr, -ungr, Gothic -ings one of a (specified) kind
: one of a (specified) kind
sweet ing
wild ing
III. noun suffix
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English -inge, -ing (in early Middle English a suffix forming nouns from verbs, in later Middle English becoming also a gerundial suffix), from Old English -ung, -ing, suffix forming nouns from verbs; akin to Old High German -unga, -ung, suffix forming nouns from verbs, Old Norse -ing, suffix forming nouns from verbs, -ung, suffix forming nouns from nouns
1. : action or process
becom ing
draw ing
runn ing
sleep ing
wash ing
: instance of an action or process
a bless ing
a meet ing
my com ings and go ings
— in nouns formed from any fully inflected verb and functioning either as gerunds capable of being modified by an adverb and capable of having an object if the base verb is transitive
after casually read ing the letter twice
or as ordinary nouns
after two casual read ings of the letter
2. : something connected with an action or process:
a. : product, accompaniment, or result of an action or process
an engrav ing
a paint ing
— in nouns formed from verbs; often in plural
earn ings
leav ings
shav ings
b. : something used in an action or process
a bed cover ing
the lin ing of a coat
— in nouns, especially collectives
carpet ing
hous ing
rigg ing
shipp ing
formed from verbs
3. : action or process connected with (a specified thing)
blackberry ing
capital ing
— in nouns formed from nouns
4. : something connected with, consisting of, or used in making (a specified thing)
sack ing
scaffold ing
shirt ing
— in nouns, especially collectives, formed from nouns
5. : something related to (a specified concept)
off ing
— in nouns formed from parts of speech other than verbs and nouns; regularly accompanied by omission of final postconsonantal e of the base word, change of final ie of the base word to y, or doubling of the final consonant of the base word immediately after a short stressed vowel