mounting

Pluralmountings

1. 1
   adjective

   Continuing to grow or build up steadily, with the total or intensity rising over time.

   Mounting evidence pointed to a single suspect.

   The government faced mounting criticism over its handling of the crisis.

   Similarincreasing, rising

   Oppositediminishing, dwindling, waning

   Note

   Mostly a word for quantities that pile up: mounting debts, mounting losses, the mounting pile of wreckage in Modern Railways' 1962 report on the Connington collisions. Today it is not graded, and nobody says "more mounting". In 1864, however, The Liberator could still speak of taming "the most mounting spirit", meaning a spirit that rises up against discipline rather than a total that grows.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A support or fixture by which something is attached or held in position.

   The engineers designed a custom mounting for the satellite dish.

   Each mounting was bolted firmly to the steel frame.

   Similarbracket, fixture, support, holder

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of mount.

   Mounting the courthouse steps, the senator paused to wave at the reporters below.

   The wrestler won the round by mounting his opponent early and pinning both arms to the mat.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every use of the verb, and nearly all of them take an object: mounting the steps, mounting a horse, mounting an opponent in ground grappling. The intransitive use, rising aloft and often followed by up, is rare. For something that keeps climbing, English usually turns to the adjective of steady growth instead. As a gerund it behaves like a noun, as in "mounting a bicycle takes balance".

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The act or process of mounting something, such as climbing onto it or fixing it into position.

   The mounting of the cavalry took several minutes.

   Proper mounting of the telescope is essential for clear images.

   Similarinstallation, fitting

   Note

   The act can be counted and repeated. John Dunmore Lang's An Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales (1834) complains of "frequent mountings and dismountings" on a rough mountain stage. Paired with its opposite in this way, the plural names the tiresome round of getting on and off again, and that pairing is still the natural home of the countable form.

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