slurping

Pluralslurpings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of slurp.

   She was slurping the last of her milkshake through the straw.

   Slurping noodles loudly is a sign of enjoyment in some cultures.

   Note

   The -ing form of slurp does two jobs. After be it builds the progressive (she was slurping her milkshake), and on its own it names the action as a verbal noun. Like slurp itself, it can take an object, as in slurping soup, or stand alone for the noise: he sat there slurping. As a gerund it keeps its verb habits, taking objects and adverbs, while the noun for the sound takes articles and a plural instead.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A sucking sound or motion of the kind made when drinking or eating noisily.

   Like the wet pull of a foot lifting out of thick mud.

   The slurping of muddy boots through the swamp echoed across the field.

   An impatient slurping told us the milkshake was nearly gone.

   Similarsquelching, sucking, gurgling

   Note

   Mouths are not required. Boots sucking through mud make the same noise, and the word follows them there. It works as a mass noun for a continuing sound (the slurping of the boots) and as a count noun for separate ones. The plural slurpings pairs naturally with other sound nouns in -ings, building a soundscape: the splashings and slurpings of Wellington boots in the mud.

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