parking

American  

[par-king] / ˈpær kɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of a person or thing that parks, especially a vehicle.

2. space in which to park vehicles, as at a place of business or a public event.

   There's plenty of free parking at the stadium.

3. permission to park vehicles.

   Is there parking on this side of the street?

4. the activity or occupation of a person who operates or works in a parking lot, garage, or the like.

5. parking strip.

6. Informal. the act of kissing and caressing in a parked car.

   Some of the couples went parking on their way home from the dance.

---

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, used for, or engaged in parking, especially of vehicles.

   parking regulations; a parking ticket; a parking space; a parking attendant.

Other Word Forms

• unparking adjective

Etymology

Origin of parking

First recorded in 1520–30; park + -ing ¹, -ing ²

Example Sentences

“I am such a crabby old man now, but it’s like, there’s parking, you can park when we have to go out,” Richter says.

From Los Angeles Times

If I wanted to watch a pair of agitated fortysomethings engage in a comically meaningless tangle, I would hit the parking lot at a travel soccer tournament.

From The Wall Street Journal

A chunk of pavement had been repainted into a parking bay for electric scooters.

From BBC

It showed the white SUV parking in the parking lot and a man exiting, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Twelve kilometers from the hotel zone, crossing empty streets with minimal traffic, residents in the well-off neighborhood of Fluvial Vallarta wandered through the parking lot of a Costco wholesaler.

From Barron's

Related Words

• embracing