"playing" meaning in English

See playing in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈpleɪ.ɪŋ/, /ˈple.jɪŋ(ɡ)/ (note: Indic) Audio: en-us-playing.ogg Forms: playings [plural]
Etymology: From Middle English playing; equivalent to play + -ing. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|playing}} Middle English playing, {{suffix|en|play|ing}} play + -ing Head templates: {{en-noun}} playing (plural playings)
  1. (gerund of play) An occasion on which something, such as a song or show, is played. Tags: gerund Derived forms: playing piece, playing time
    Sense id: en-playing-en-noun-WY7tFYD4 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 52 48

Verb

IPA: /ˈpleɪ.ɪŋ/, /ˈple.jɪŋ(ɡ)/ (note: Indic) Audio: en-us-playing.ogg
Etymology: From Middle English playing; equivalent to play + -ing. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|playing}} Middle English playing, {{suffix|en|play|ing}} play + -ing Head templates: {{head|en|verb form}} playing
  1. present participle and gerund of play Tags: form-of, gerund, participle, present Form of: play
    Sense id: en-playing-en-verb-W8LKvTkM Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ing Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 52 48 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ing: 43 57 Related terms (related to noun or verb): ball-playing, cardplaying, extended playing time, gameplaying, hooky-playing, level playing field, long-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing game, nonplaying, non-playing, playing card, playing field, playingly, postplaying, role-playing, role playing game, role-playing game, role-playing video game, roll-playing, stageplaying

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "playing"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English playing",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "play",
        "3": "ing"
      },
      "expansion": "play + -ing",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English playing; equivalent to play + -ing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "playings",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "playing (plural playings)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "playing piece"
        },
        {
          "word": "playing time"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              64,
              72
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2009 January 19, Edward Wyatt, “‘Big Love’ Gets a Big Tie to Real World”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "[…] the Nielsen figures show that average viewership across all playings fell by only 40 percent and that total viewership of the entire season’s episodes fell by only 20 percent.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An occasion on which something, such as a song or show, is played."
      ],
      "id": "en-playing-en-noun-WY7tFYD4",
      "links": [
        [
          "play",
          "play"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(gerund of play) An occasion on which something, such as a song or show, is played."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of play"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "gerund"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpleɪ.ɪŋ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-playing.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg/En-us-playing.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈple.jɪŋ(ɡ)/",
      "note": "Indic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "playing"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "playing"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English playing",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "play",
        "3": "ing"
      },
      "expansion": "play + -ing",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English playing; equivalent to play + -ing.",
  "head_templates": [
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        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "playing",
      "name": "head"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
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          "_dis": "43 57",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "play"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "present participle and gerund of play"
      ],
      "id": "en-playing-en-verb-W8LKvTkM",
      "links": [
        [
          "play",
          "play#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "ball-playing"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "cardplaying"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "extended playing time"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "gameplaying"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "hooky-playing"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "level playing field"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "long-playing"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "massively multiplayer online role-playing game"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "nonplaying"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "non-playing"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "playing card"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "playing field"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "playingly"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "postplaying"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "role-playing"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "role playing game"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "role-playing game"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "role-playing video game"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "roll-playing"
        },
        {
          "sense": "related to noun or verb",
          "word": "stageplaying"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund",
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpleɪ.ɪŋ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-playing.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg/En-us-playing.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈple.jɪŋ(ɡ)/",
      "note": "Indic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "playing"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms suffixed with -ing",
    "English verb forms",
    "English verbal nouns",
    "Middle English adverbs",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms suffixed with -ynge",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪɪŋ",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪɪŋ/2 syllables",
    "enm:Entertainment",
    "enm:Games",
    "enm:Theater"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "playing piece"
    },
    {
      "word": "playing time"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "play",
        "3": "ing"
      },
      "expansion": "play + -ing",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English playing; equivalent to play + -ing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "playings",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "playing (plural playings)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
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  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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      "examples": [
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              64,
              72
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2009 January 19, Edward Wyatt, “‘Big Love’ Gets a Big Tie to Real World”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "[…] the Nielsen figures show that average viewership across all playings fell by only 40 percent and that total viewership of the entire season’s episodes fell by only 20 percent.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An occasion on which something, such as a song or show, is played."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "play",
          "play"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(gerund of play) An occasion on which something, such as a song or show, is played."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of play"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "gerund"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpleɪ.ɪŋ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-playing.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg/En-us-playing.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈple.jɪŋ(ɡ)/",
      "note": "Indic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "playing"
}

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    "English terms suffixed with -ing",
    "English verb forms",
    "English verbal nouns",
    "Middle English adverbs",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms suffixed with -ynge",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪɪŋ",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪɪŋ/2 syllables",
    "enm:Entertainment",
    "enm:Games",
    "enm:Theater"
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      "args": {
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        "2": "play",
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      },
      "expansion": "play + -ing",
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English playing; equivalent to play + -ing.",
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "ball-playing"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "cardplaying"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "extended playing time"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "gameplaying"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "hooky-playing"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "level playing field"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "long-playing"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "massively multiplayer online role-playing game"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "nonplaying"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "non-playing"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "playing card"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "playing field"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "playingly"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "postplaying"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "role-playing"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "role playing game"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "role-playing game"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "role-playing video game"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "roll-playing"
    },
    {
      "sense": "related to noun or verb",
      "word": "stageplaying"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "play"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "present participle and gerund of play"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "play",
          "play#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund",
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpleɪ.ɪŋ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-playing.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg/En-us-playing.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/En-us-playing.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈple.jɪŋ(ɡ)/",
      "note": "Indic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "playing"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (96027d6 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.