- present participle of perish.
perishing
Americanadjective
adjective
-
informal (of weather, etc) extremely cold
-
slang (intensifier qualifying something undesirable)
it's a perishing nuisance!
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perishing
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at perish, -ing 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They looked absolutely freezing, which was not a surprise as it was a perishing January night in Lancashire.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026
All that’s clear is massive landmarks are perishing and that you need to run.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2024
The young meat-eater had chomped off the hind legs of two parrot-like dinosaurs called caenagnathids before perishing itself.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 8, 2023
Levin yelled out into the roar, anything to take his mind off the thought of perishing in a landslide.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2022
Ancient sources talk about his perishing at sea for his impiety, or alternatively, say that the brotherhood banished him and constructed a tomb for him, expelling him from the world of human beings.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
