shipping

¹

[ship-ing]

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.

shipping

²

[ship-ing]

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.

shipping

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• nonshipping adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shipping¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; ship ¹, -ing ¹

Origin of shipping²

First recorded in 1990–95; (relation)ship + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Shares came back to Earth as U.S.-Chinese trade negotiations included an agreement to keep shipping rare-earth materials.

Read more on Barron's

Pointing to recent corporate activity by global shipping lines and increased interest in transport assets from global infrastructure funds, analyst Ian Munro sees some probability of interest from a third party.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Compared to conventional marine fuels, green methanol has a lower carbon footprint, cutting emissions by up to 65 percent, according to shipping firms.

Read more on Barron's

Instead of shipping the ore to China, it planned to refine it in the U.K., developing an integrated operation outside of Asia.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Or you can get satellite snapshots of shipping containers heading into the Port of Los Angeles.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• freight 
• ship 

When To Use

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.