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

Oman's foreign ministry warned against attacks on shipping that could hamper that.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

The German shipping and logistics company confirmed its preliminary second-quarter figures and upgraded 2026 targets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Regularly shipping all of those materials from Earth would not be a practical long-term solution.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Lumentum runs five indium-phosphide plants and is still shipping more than 30% below what customers ask for.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Data management technician for a small shipping company.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• freight
• ship