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letting

LET-ing/ˈlɛtɪŋ/

Noun plurallettings

3 meanings of letting

Practice

  1. 1
    verb
    Present participle and gerund of let.

    The teacher is letting the students leave a few minutes early today.

    Letting go of an old grudge can take a surprisingly long time.

    Note

    The -ing form does work the bare verb cannot: since let stays let in the past and past participle, this is the form that visibly changes. It carries the progressive (she is letting them leave) and the gerund (letting go), with the t doubled before the suffix. Like let itself, it takes a bare infinitive: letting them go, never letting them to go. The same spelling also serves the noun for a tenancy.

  2. 2
    nounUKcountable
    An arrangement under which property is rented out to a tenant for an agreed term; a tenancy.

    The landlord arranged a short letting for the summer months.

    Most of the lettings in this area go quickly to students.

    Similartenancy

    Note

    A British word from the property market, where it is countable and often plural. In John Cranage's 2002 Birmingham Post report, house lettings are 'holding up' beside the buy-to-let boom, and that compound comes from the same verb. Tenancy is a close synonym, but letting sees the arrangement from the side of the property let out. It belongs to estate-agency and housing-market talk more than to everyday speech.

  3. 3
    noundatedUScountable
    The awarding of a public contract to a contractor, typically through a competitive bidding process.

    The board postponed the letting of the sewer contract until spring.

    Another letting is announced to occur, probably on the 23rd of February, and at both of these lettings, contracts aggregating more than two million dollars are to be awarded.
    1937, Walker Wood, “Capitol Activities”

    Similaraward, awarding

    Note

    Older American public-works language treated a letting as a scheduled event. In Walker Wood's 1937 column in the Woodville Republican, a letting is announced for the 23rd of February, and several contracts are awarded at it. The noun follows from letting out a contract, and because it is now dated, it suits historical writing better than current reporting on procurement.

letting is a form of let

let, verb: To allow someone or something to do something, or not prevent it; used with a bare infinitive. Full entry

Forms
let also past tense, past participlelets he/she/itletting -ing form
Spelling
let → letting: double the t, add -ing

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