Showing results for "dressing"

• present participle of dress.

dressing

American  

[dres-ing] / ˈdrɛs ɪŋ /

noun

dressings plural

1. the act of a person or thing that dresses.

2. a sauce for food.

   salad dressing.

3. stuffing for a fowl.

   turkey dressing.

4. material used to dress or cover a wound.

5. manure, compost, or other fertilizers.

6. the ornamental detail of a building, especially that around openings.

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dressing British  

/ ˈdrɛsɪŋ /

noun

1. a sauce for food, esp for salad

2. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): stuffing.  a mixture of chopped and seasoned ingredients with which poultry, meat, etc, is stuffed before cooking

3. a covering for a wound, sore, etc

4. manure or artificial fertilizer spread on land

5. size used for stiffening textiles

6. the processes in the conversion of certain rough tanned hides into leather ready for use

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dressings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dressing

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at dress, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Dressing up layoffs as visionary moves for the age of AI carries certain risks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Chris Morocco’s Tahini-Ranch Dressing has not left my kitchen since I first tried it.

From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026

Dressing up in ridiculous costumes and playing curling competitions with Mum and Dad and your brother, Colin.

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026

Dressing up as characters is a labor of love for him — he doesn’t do this as a business, he wrote, or even as a hobby.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025

She takes her small canister of Royal Crown Hair Dressing, dips her fingers into the pomade, and dabs it on my hair.

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson

Related Words

• filling
• stuffing