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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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

The conflict has also spread further across regional shipping lanes.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

The shipping industry as a whole is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Shares have struggled since the start of the war, thanks to disruptions in shipping products to Middle East customers.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Now, the threat from the Houthis risks further disruption to international shipping, with hostilities in the region having already led to global fuel prices fluctuating significantly.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

"They're packing and shipping Tater?" says Duke with a dramatic whip of his head.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• freight
• ship