processing

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The handling of something, such as an application, by running it through the procedures laid down for it.

   Loan applications go through processing before any money is released.

   The processing of evidence at the lab follows strict chain-of-custody rules.

   Similarhandling, review, assessment

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The handling of data, especially by computer, through operations such as retrieving, storing, classifying, changing, and transmitting it.

   Real-time processing of sensor data lets the car react to obstacles instantly.

   The bank's servers handle the processing of millions of transactions every night.

   Similarcomputation, analysis, handling, manipulation

   Note

   Computing uses the word as an umbrella: storing, retrieving, sorting, transforming and sending data all count as processing. That is why it combines so freely, as in data processing, real-time processing and signal processing. Here the thing being handled is always information, not material. That is the quickest way to tell it from the procedural sense, where claims, forms or samples are moved through set steps.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The action of the verb to process, in any of its senses.

   The plant handles the processing of raw cotton into usable fiber.

   Her insurance claim is still undergoing processing.

   Similartreatment, handling, preparation, conversion

   Note

   Built from process plus -ing, it covers whatever the verb covers. It often sits in front of another noun as a modifier that names a kind of work, as in Catherine Clabby's photo processing technique in American Scientist (2013). In that position it is written open, not hyphenated. It can also be counted, with the plural processings.

4. 4
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of process.

   The factory is processing tons of tomatoes every day during the harvest.

   She spent the afternoon processing the new employee paperwork.

   Note

   The verbal -ing form shares its spelling with the noun, and what follows it tells them apart. The verb takes a direct object and adverbs (processing the forms quickly). The noun takes of and adjectives (the quick processing of the forms). It also serves the process that means "walk in procession", as in a choir processing down the aisle, where no object follows at all.

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