- present participle of pine.
pining
Americanadjective
-
suffering with or expressing longing or yearning for someone or something.
Exposing her vulnerability and loneliness, the poet addresses her country as would a pining woman in a letter to her beloved in a distant land.
Her pining vocals on these tracks throb with the loneliness and emptiness of fresh separation.
-
failing gradually in health or vitality, especially from grief, regret, or longing.
The day after the altercation he took sick, and continued in a pining and languishing condition till his death, which soon ensued.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pining
First recorded in 1200–50; pin(e) 2 ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; pin(e) 2 ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun sense
Vocabulary lists containing pining
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.
Pining piccolos, flutes and strings were strung through the third with the tension of the suspension bridge.
From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2022
My RBF typically turns into Pining Puppydog Face and I become flustered.
From The Guardian • Jun. 12, 2018
“I’m sitting here just pining. Pining for a bite!”
From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2016
“I’m sitting here just pining. Pining for a bite.”
From Time • Apr. 18, 2016
Pining for your native air—no, home air—I presume.
From Elsie's Girlhood A Sequel to "Elsie Dinsmore" and "Elsie's Holidays at Roselands" by Finley, Martha
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.
