shipping

¹

[ ship-ing ]

noun

1. the act or business of a person or thing that ships.
2. a number of ships, especially merchant ships, taken as a whole; tonnage.
3. Obsolete. a voyage.

shipping

²

[ ship-ing ]

noun

, Slang.

1. the act or practice of discussing, writing about, or hoping for a romantic relationship between fictional characters, as in fan fiction, or between famous people, whether or not the romance actually exists in the book, show, etc., or in real life:

   the shipping of TV characters;

   shipping in webcomics.

shipping

/ ˈʃɪpɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. the business of transporting freight, esp by ship
   2. ( as modifier )

      a shipping magnate

      shipping line

2. 1. ships collectively

      there is a lot of shipping in the Channel

   2. the tonnage of a number of ships

      shipping for this year exceeded that of last

Other Words From

• non·shipping adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shipping¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; ship ¹, -ing ¹

Origin of shipping²

First recorded in 1990–95; (relation)ship + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

"In the case of a lot of whales, population recoveries since the cessation of commercial whaling are coincident with increasing shipping traffic and increasing fishing efforts," said Stocker.

From Science Daily

Also delaying the donation are political instability in Japan following its 27 October parliamentary elections, shipping costs, and questions about whether the DRC has enough freezers to properly store the product.

From Science Magazine

Shipping clean tech to emerging economies dovetails with another of China’s policies: its “Belt and Road Initiative,” an effort to develop new trade routes, including roads, railways, ports and airports, to connect with the rest of the world.

From BBC

"When we're moving an entire community and shipping them off, that has a much larger effect," she said, referencing the ICE deportations of Mauritanian immigrants in Columbus in 2018.

From Salon

Anderson and his co-conspirators used darknet marketplaces to sell the drugs, prosecutors allege, shipping the stuffed animals from U.S. post offices.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• freight
• ship