walking

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔːkɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔkɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑkɪŋ/
• Hyphenation: walk‧ing
• Rhymes: -ɔːkɪŋ

From Middle English walkynge, walkinge, walkinde, walkende, walkand, walkande, from Old English wealcende (attested as Old English wealcendes), from Proto-Germanic *walkandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *walkaną (“to roll, trample, walk”), equivalent to walk +‎ -ing.

walking

1. present participle and gerund of walk

walking (not comparable)

1. Incarnate as a human; living.

   Elizabeth knows so many words that they call her the walking dictionary.

   Phil's mother is a walking miracle after surviving that accident.

   • 2020 November 19, Kurran Karbal, Zuzu (lyrics and music), “Woke Up” (0:22 from the start), in Adventure Time: Distant Lands - Obsidian (Original Soundtrack), performed by Olivia Olson:

     Honestly / You're a walking, talking, candy tragedy

2. Able to walk in spite of injury or sickness.
3. Characterized by or suitable for walking.

   a walking tour

   good walking shoes

4. Heavily characterized by some given quality.

   She was a walking example of how fitness training can take you a long way.

   a walking contradiction

5. (music) Being a style of bass accompaniment or line, common in Baroque music (1600–1750) and 20th century jazz, blues and rockabilly, which creates a feeling of regular quarter note movement, akin to the regular alternation of feet while walking.

   a walking bass, or walking bassline

From Middle English walkyng, walkinge, equivalent to walk +‎ -ing.

walking (countable and uncountable, plural walkings)

1. verbal noun of walk.
   • 1878, Anthony Trollope, Ayala's Angel:

     Mrs Dosett, aware that daintiness was no longer within the reach of her and hers, did assent to these walkings in Kensington Gardens.

   • 2013 September-October, Rob Dorit, “These 'Bots Are Made for Walking”, in American Scientist:

     Walking seems so simple: Just put one foot in front of the other. Yet every step you take is a precarious act. When you walk, your body’s center of mass is rarely located over one of your feet.

• shanks' mare
• shanks' pony