squidding

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of squid.

   A few boats were squidding for bluefish along the edge of the channel.

   With the canopy still squidding overhead, she reached for her reserve handle.

   Note

   Two unrelated activities share the form: anglers squidding for bluefish with a hook made to look like a squid, and a canopy squidding when it fails to fill. The d doubles before -ing, as in other short words ending in one vowel and one consonant. The parachute verb can also take an object, meaning to make a canopy inflate only partly.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The improper, partial inflation of a parachute, in which the sides of the canopy fold in toward the center and pulse back and forth.

   The test film showed several seconds of squidding before the canopy finally filled.

   Instructors explained what to do if students saw squidding overhead after the opening.

   Note

   Parachuting names the fault for what it looks like: a half-filled canopy pulsing in and out like a swimming squid. The noun is uncountable, so a jumper reports some squidding or a few seconds of squidding, never a squidding, and a canopy caught in it is said to be squidding overhead.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2