praising

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of praise.

   Critics are praising the novel for its bold structure.

   Praising the chef, the diners asked if they could thank her in person.

   Note

   The -ing form does two jobs. With a form of be it builds the progressive (critics are praising the novel). On its own it heads a clause as a gerund, as in praising others costs nothing. Either way it keeps a direct object, which separates it from the countable noun. That noun takes a plural, praisings, and an article. Note that the silent e of praise drops before -ing.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   An act of giving praise to someone or something.

   The endless praising of the new manager soon began to feel insincere.

   Public praising of the volunteers lifted morale across the whole team.

   Similarcommendation, flattery, adulation, acclaim, glorification

   Oppositecriticism, condemnation, censure

   Note

   Each act of praise counts separately here, so it can take a plural. Ken Blanchard's Leading at a Higher Level (2009) asks who is "sick and tired of all the praisings you get at work or at home." The phrase treats compliments as separate episodes, almost like tasks. Reach for it when the individual acts are the point. Unlike the gerund, it takes no direct object: you speak of the praising of volunteers.

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