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; ship ¹, -ing ¹

Origin of shipping²

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

Example Sentences

For six weeks, she was shuttled with other women between detention sites, including al-Mina al-Bary, a bus depot near the market where the UN said hundreds were held in about 70 shipping containers.

From Barron's

Prosecutors published photos showing one of Liaw’s deputies with an assistant who they said used a hair dryer to remove and affix labels and serial-number stickers to shipping boxes.

From The Wall Street Journal

The geography of the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping lanes are just 2 miles wide, gives Iran unique power over the global economy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Rising costs for fertilizer, feed, packaging and shipping are going to seep into the prices that people see on grocery shelves, experts say.

From MarketWatch

After graduating high school in 2003, he welded for two years at the shipping docks in Tampa, making $14 an hour.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• freight
• ship