exceeding
Noun pluralexceedings
Pluralexceedings
- 1Present participle and gerund of exceed.
Floodwaters were exceeding the levels recorded a decade earlier.
Exceeding the budget forced the team to cancel the trip.
Note
The working verb form. It nearly always takes an object, because exceed is mainly transitive: exceeding the limit, exceeding the estimate. As a gerund it heads a noun phrase (exceeding the budget was costly). The same spelling also serves the archaic intensifying adverb and a cluster of old adjectives. Context, not form, tells them apart, so read what follows the word.
- 2The state or condition of being in excess.
An exceeding of the agreed quota must be reported to the regulator.
The exceeding of safe radiation levels triggered an automatic shutdown.
Similaroverrun, breach, excess
Oppositeshortfall
Note
A countable noun of accounts and budgets, with the plural exceedings. The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers of 1812 speak of "the exceedings of expenditure beyond estimate," which shows its natural frame: an exceeding of some sum beyond a set figure. Where a less technical word is wanted, excess or overrun covers the same ground.
- 3Exceptional or extraordinary.
The painter was known throughout the region for his exceeding skill.
They marveled at the exceeding grace of the dancers.
Less common meanings
- 4Extreme; very great in degree.
The siege brought exceeding misery to the townsfolk within the walls.
She bore the loss with exceeding patience.
Note
The adjective of intensity, applied to feelings and states: exceeding misery, exceeding patience. It sits closest to the intensifying adverb, and the two are easy to blur. Before a noun it is this adjective; before another adjective (exceeding glad) it is the adverb. A modern writer reaching for this effect without the archaic color would say extreme or great.
- 5Prodigious; remarkably great in size or amount.
The merchant amassed an exceeding fortune from the spice trade.
From the hilltop they beheld an exceeding throng filling the valley.
Note
An old adjective of sheer size, set directly before its noun: an exceeding fortune, an exceeding throng. In modern prose it reads as deliberately antique, so it suits period pastiche better than plain description. Today prodigious or enormous does the job. Its archaic siblings differ by focus: this one measures quantity, while the 'extraordinary' adjective praises quality, as in exceeding skill or exceeding grace.
- 6To an extreme degree; exceedingly.
The villagers were exceeding glad when the rains finally came.
1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
1611, First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy (AV)Note
An intensifier with no -ly, placed straight before an adjective. Florio's translation of Montaigne's Essayes (1603) calls Augustus "exceeding liberall" in his gifts, and the King James Bible of 1611 speaks of grace "exceeding abundant." The Myths of Plato (1905) still describes a gulf "exceeding deep," keeping the elevated tone. In modern prose it signals pastiche. For ordinary emphasis, use exceedingly.
Showing meanings only.
exceeding is a form of exceed
exceed, verb: To go beyond a particular limit, or to be greater or longer than something. Full entry
- Spelling
- exceed → exceeding: add -ing
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
Formed from "exceed" with the suffix "-ing".