- present participle of proceed.
proceeding
Americannoun
-
proceedings
plural
-
a particular action or course or manner of action.
-
proceedings, a series of activities or events; happenings.
-
the act of a person or thing that proceeds.
Our proceeding down the mountain was hindered by mud slides.
-
proceedings, a record of the doings or transactions of a fraternal, academic, etc., society.
-
Law. proceedings,
-
the instituting or carrying on of an action at law.
-
a legal step or measure.
to institute proceedings against a person.
-
noun
-
an act or course of action
-
-
the institution of a legal action
-
any step taken in a legal action
-
-
(plural) the minutes of the meetings of a club, society, etc
-
(plural) legal action; litigation
-
(plural) the events of an occasion, meeting, etc
Usage
What are other ways to say proceeding?
The noun proceeding refers to a particular course or manner of action. The plural proceedings refers to a series of activities or events, or to a record of the doings or transactions of a social club or academic society. Do you know when to use proceedings instead of procedure or process? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of proceeding
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at proceed, -ing 1
Explanation
The noun proceeding (often pluralized as proceedings) is used in legal settings to show something is happening, or moving forward: "During the legal proceedings the judge declared him mentally unbalanced." Most of the time, the noun proceeding is used in law to show that a sequence of actions have taken place, leading up to judgment day in court. If you move forward with legal proceedings, you might start by filing a lawsuit or a claim against someone. Outside of the law, the noun is also used to show the steps taken, that there is involvement with a process or venture, or that progress is being made: "He took the necessary proceedings to make sure everything was okay."
Vocabulary lists containing proceeding
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Crucible
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Landlady" by Roald Dahl
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
"The only way to preserve the district court's ability to grant relief to the United States after a full merits proceeding, therefore, is to segregate the challenged ballots now," Sauer said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everything was proceeding "according to plan", and paid tribute to US mediation and in particular representatives of Melania Trump.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
“I propose a new, audacious, and perhaps desperate strategy: a ‘jailbreak,’ ” it wrote to two others, proceeding to divvy up research tasks.
From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2026
During a brief court proceeding Friday, Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui scheduled a preliminary hearing for Tuesday to allow Floris and Benavides to begin challenging the basis for the case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
To Laila, the sounds she heard were those of a methodical, familiar proceeding.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
A jury of nine women and three men was unable to reach a unanimous decision, as required in US criminal proceedings, casting doubt on whether prosecutors would seek another trial.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania also suffered a stroke that year while campaigning for office and now uses live-captioning technology to assist with auditory processing during Senate proceedings.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
Lawyers for a second fraternity member, Winston Lee, have argued that James’s comment has prejudiced any future grand jury proceedings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
The judge, Mr Justice Nicklin, said there was "significant public interest" in the proceedings and that "this is a difficult and important case".
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
About an hour into the rehearsal, I noticed that Annette and Renee were in their usual spots, watching the proceedings.
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
