gigging

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The activity of performing in concerts, plays, or other shows, often taken as separate paid engagements.

   Years of gigging in jazz clubs sharpened his improvisation.

   Constant gigging across regional theaters left the actor seasoned but exhausted.

   Similarperforming, playing

   Note

   A noun built from gig plus -ing that turns single bookings into a running way of working. It is uncountable: you speak of years of gigging or of gigging steadily, while one booked show stays a gig. Musicians use it most, but stage and screen actors share it. The freelance-work meaning stretches the same word to any short-term job.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The practice of working freelance, temporary, or on-demand jobs rather than holding a permanent position.

   Gigging through ride-share platforms became her main source of income.

   Many graduates turn to gigging while searching for full-time work.

   Similarfreelancing

3. 3
   verbcolloquial

   Present participle of gig.

   After gigging steadily for a decade, the guitarist finally landed a record deal.

   The duo spent the entire summer gigging across small festivals in Europe.

   Note

   One spelling serves as both participle and gerund, with the final g doubled before -ing: "she was gigging" and "gigging pays badly" use the same form. Behind it stand several unrelated verbs: playing a show, working short-term jobs, mocking someone, and riding in a two-wheeled carriage, sometimes as "gigging it". In US military use it also means imposing a demerit for a dress-code breach. Only the mocking, demerit and instrument uses take an object.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The activity of spearing fish, frogs, or other prey using a gig: a pronged fishing implement.

   Gigging by lantern light remains a tradition in many coastal communities.

   He prefers gigging to rod-and-reel fishing when chasing flounder.

   Similarspearfishing

   Note

   The fishing word has nothing to do with stages or freelance work. Here a gig is a pronged spear, also called a fizgig. John Jeremiah Sullivan's Pulphead (2011) carries it into stranger territory, writing about chimpanzees in Senegal that sharpen spears with their teeth. Context usually settles which gigging is meant: fish, frogs and flounder point to the spear, while clubs and theaters point to performance.

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