ordering

Pluralorderings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of order.

   The manager is ordering new equipment for the office.

   Ordering the files by date helped us find the contract quickly.

   Note

   The -ing form does two jobs. After a form of be, it marks an action in progress, as in is ordering new equipment. Standing alone, it names the action itself, as in ordering the files by date. It carries every verb meaning of order: arranging, commanding, requesting goods, admitting to holy orders. The object usually tells them apart. Ordering a person commands, ordering goods buys, and ordering files arranges.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   An arrangement of items in a particular sequence.

   The ordering of chapters affects how the argument unfolds.

   A different ordering of the steps produced a cleaner result.

   Similarsequence, arrangement

   Note

   Here the stress falls on the particular sequence chosen, which is why the word counts so easily: one ordering against another, several possible orderings. It also works as a mass noun for the business of arranging, as in the ordering of chapters. A common pairing is rank ordering, a sequence by merit or score, the kind a teacher gives students' performances.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The act of requesting goods or services from a supplier or business.

   Bulk ordering reduced the cost per unit for the warehouse.

   The restaurant switched to digital ordering during the pandemic.

   Similarpurchasing, buying

   Note

   Commerce uses the word only as a mass noun. Ordering is the ongoing activity of placing orders, so it pairs with modifiers rather than an article or a plural: bulk ordering, digital ordering, ordering that must be complete weeks before delivery. The plural orderings belongs to the "sequence" meaning. A single purchase is simply an order.

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act or ceremony of ordaining someone as a priest or deacon.

   The ordering of the deacons followed the ancient rite.

   Her ordering as a priest was celebrated by the whole parish.

   Similarordination

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