shipping

¹ American  

[ship-ing] / ˈʃɪp ɪŋ /

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.

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shipping ² American  

[ship-ing] / ˈʃɪp ɪŋ /

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.

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shipping British  

/ 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

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Usage

What else does shipping mean? Shipping is the act of wanting two or more fictional characters or celebrities to end up in a relationship, usually romantic.

Other Word Forms

• nonshipping
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of shipping¹

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

Origin of shipping²

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shipping

China’s auto factories are building so many cars for export that the global shipping industry can’t keep up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

"The rivers are drying up. Ships cannot operate. Yet the new transport minister comes up with nothing more than deeper shipping channels and different types of vessels," Banaszak told the Rheinische Post daily.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

In a good sign for global economic activity, two major shipping lines posted solid earnings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

But he also said that "if the situation really deteriorates and shipping were to come to a standstill, we could not rule out an impact on our results".

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Next they sent a check to the company who had been shipping the fresh fish all the way from the coast.

From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater

Related Words

• freight
• ship