specifying

Pluralspecifyings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of specify.

   Specifying the requirements early saved the team weeks of rework.

   The architect kept specifying finishes the client couldn't afford.

   Note

   The verb does two jobs here. As a participle it follows be or keep (kept specifying finishes). As a gerund it still takes a direct object (specifying the requirements early). Specify once also ran intransitively with of, meaning to speak in detail, but that use is obsolete. A modern specifying of belongs to the noun of exact statement. The other senses of specify, such as stating a condition or writing something into a specification, carry over unchanged.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act or process of setting something out clearly and precisely.

   The contract's value lay in its precise specifying of every obligation.

   Proper specifying of materials prevents costly mistakes on site.

   Similarspecification, stipulation, definition, detailing, itemization

   Note

   A noun built on the verb, and it behaves like a noun: it takes adjectives and an of-phrase rather than a direct object, as in precise specifying of every obligation or proper specifying of materials. It can also be counted, with the plural specifyings, for separate acts of stating something exactly. When the word takes an object directly, as in specifying the requirements, it is the verb form instead.

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