- present participle of color.
coloring
AmericanUsage
Spelling tips for coloring The word coloring is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it can be tempting to use a double l or double r. Second, in British English, the word is spelled with a u (colouring), unlike in American English. How to spell coloring: When it comes to color, keep it simple. Too much color, and too many letters, is distracting. You don't need any extra letters, like a double l, double r, or u. Then, you add the suffix -ing to the base word color to form coloring.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of coloring
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at color, -ing 1
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.
See Examples For:
Food and Drug Administration, which asked companies to more quickly remove red dye No. 3 — a similar synthetic food coloring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Helen Guedez and her brother have chosen to disregard the ominous letter coloring the wall of the building that previously housed their dad, sister and grandmother.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
“If you try and get the food dye, the food coloring right now, it’s very hard to achieve,” said Jesse Spellman, the co-owner of Utopia Bagels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Imagine squeezing a drop of food coloring into flowing water.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
She sometimes stays in the lines of her coloring books, and she usually draws stuff like flowers and stars, always in pink.
From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist
If the Renaissance had been known as the Resurrection, might we be more aware of the period’s metaphysical colorings?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025
Examples that can be found around us include various amino acids, including monosodium glutamate, food proteins, enzymes, flavoring compounds, food colorings, and bioactive substances.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 12, 2024
Some studies began suggesting that chemical dyes, and particularly some of the red ones, could have adverse health effects if consumed as food colorings or in cosmetics like lipstick.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2023
You can also dye the icing with natural food colorings, from red and orange to green and blue; more on those variations here.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2022
The various tints and colorings of the sky are determined by what is found in the atmosphere, and this is the reason why skies differ in coloring and tone in different sections of the globe.
From Nature's Miracles, Volume 1 Familiar Talks on Science—World-Building and Life. Earth, Air and Water. by Elisha Gray
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
