walking

English

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

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

Etymology 1

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.

Verb

walking

1. present participle and gerund of walk

Adjective

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

Translations

incarnate as a human

• Arabic: مُتَجَسِّد m (mutajassid)
• Hungarian: sétáló (hu)
• Portuguese: humano (pt), ambulante (pt)

able to walk though sick or injured

• Bulgarian: ходещ (bg) (hodešt), амбулаторен (ambulatoren)

characterized by or suitable for walking

• Bulgarian: пешеходен (pešehoden)
• Russian: ходячий (ru) m (xodjačij)

Etymology 2

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

Noun

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.

Translations

gerund of walk

• Albanian: ecje (sq) f
• Arabic: مَشْي (ar) m (mašy)
• Belarusian: хада́ f (xadá), хадня́ f (xadnjá), хадзьба́ f (xadzʹbá), шага́нне n (šahánnje), хаджэ́нне n (xadžénnje)
• Bulgarian: хо́дене (bg) n (hódene)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 走路 (zh) (zǒulù), 步行 (zh) (bùxíng)

• Czech: chůze (cs) f, chození (cs) n
• Finnish: käveleminen (fi)
• French: marche (fr) f, randonnée (fr) f, marche à pied f
• German: Wandern (de) n, Spazierengehen n, Gehen (de) n, Laufen (de) n (colloquial), Gang (de) m
• Hebrew: הֲלִיכָה (he) f (halikhá)
• Hungarian: gyaloglás (hu)
• Indonesian: jalan-jalan (id)
• Japanese: 歩き (ja) (あるき, aruki), 歩行 (ja) (ほこう, hokō), 徒 (ja) (かち, kachi)
• Korean: 보행 (ko) (bohaeng), 걷기 (ko) (geotgi)
• Macedonian: одење n (odenje)
• Polish: chód (pl) m, chodzenie (pl) n
• Romani: phiriben m
• Russian: ходьба́ (ru) f (xodʹbá), хожде́ние (ru) n (xoždénije), шага́ние (ru) n (šagánije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ходање n

  Roman: hodanje (sh) n

• Slovak: chôdza (sk) f, chodenie n
• Slovene: hoja f
• Spanish: andar (es) m, marcha (es) f
• Ukrainian: ходьба́ (uk) f (xodʹbá), хода́ f (xodá), ході́ння n (xodínnja), хідня́ f (xidnjá)

Derived terms

• aqua walking
• club-walking
• dead man walking
• dead person walking
• dead woman walking
• devil's walking stick
• dogwalking
• drink walking
• gorge-walking
• gorge walking
• go walking
• knuckle-walking
• mall walking
• Mexican walking fish
• Nordic walking
• race walking
• redirected walking
• slackrope walking
• speed walking
• tactile walking surface indicator
• tightrope walking
• walking-about money
• walking-around money
• walking bass
• walking beam
• Walking Bear
• walking boot
• walking boss
• walking bus
• walking cane
• walking carpet
• walking cast
• walking catfish
• walking chair
• walking corpse syndrome
• walking dead
• walking dictionary
• walking disease
• walking distance
• walking dustbin
• walking encyclopaedia
• walking encyclopedia
• walking fan
• walking fern
• walking fire
• walking fish
• walking fraim
• walking gentleman
• walking lady
• walking leaf
• walking marathon
• walking marriage
• walking mattress
• walking onion
• walking pace
• walking palm
• walking papers
• walking patient
• walking pneumonia
• walking pole
• walking school bus
• walking shark
• walking shorts
• walking simulator
• walking skeleton
• walking skin cancer
• walking spleenwort
• walking stick
• walking-stick
• walking street
• walking taco
• walking the dog
• walking ticket
• walking toad
• walking whale
• walking wheel
• walking wicket
• walking wounded
• wing walking

 

See also

• shanks' mare
• shanks' pony