hoarding

¹

[hawr-ding]

noun

1. the act of a person or animal that hoards.

   Depression-era hoarding, when gold coins disappeared from circulation;

   the hoarding of nuts by chipmunks.

2. hoardings, things that are hoarded.

hoarding

²

[hawr-ding, hohr-]

noun

1. a temporary fence enclosing a construction site.

2. British.,  a billboard.

hoarding

/ ˈhɔːdɪŋ /

noun

1. Also called (esp US and Canadian): billboard. a large board used for displaying advertising posters, as by a road

2. a temporary wooden fence erected round a building or demolition site

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoarding¹

First recorded in 1585–95; hoard + -ing ¹

Origin of hoarding²

First recorded in 1815–25; obsolete hoard (from Old French hourd(e) “palisade made of hurdles,” from Germanic; compare German Hürde “hurdle”) + -ing ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoarding¹

C19: from C15 hoard fence, from Old French hourd palisade, of Germanic origin, related to Gothic haurds, Old Norse hurth door

Example Sentences

A more lasting effect of Washington’s crackdown on Russia could be to reinforce Beijing’s recent strategy of hoarding oil.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Before that deal, Buffett had been hoarding cash, a sign that he believed the market was overvalued.

Read more on MarketWatch

He was the deepest of deep-state creatures, building and hoarding that coercive state power for himself and deploying it for his own purposes.

Read more on Salon

But hoarding cruise missiles for another war that may or may not come invites more conflict.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Prosecutors over time have found a range of motives behind the unlawful retention of sensitive documents, from hoarding mementos of government service to plans of selling secrets to foreign adversaries.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• accretion 
• aggregation 
• buildup 
• growth 
• inflation 
• pile 
• quantity