tackling

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of tackle.

   The committee is tackling rising costs across the district.

   Tackling the backlog took most of the afternoon.

   Note

   One -ing form doing two jobs. After be it builds the progressive (the committee is tackling costs). On its own it works as a verbal noun that still takes a direct object (tackling the backlog). It carries every meaning of tackle, from bringing down a ball carrier to facing a hard problem. Once it takes the or an of-phrase, it has crossed into the noun for dealing with something.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act or process of dealing with a problem, task, or difficult situation.

   The tackling of the budget shortfall fell to the new manager.

   Effective tackling of the crisis required input from every department.

   Similarhandling

   Note

   Unlike the verbal form, this noun can count its instances. Ford Madox Ford, in When Blood is Their Argument (1915), writes of "his tacklings of the problems of industrialism." The plural treats each attempt as a separate episode, and the thing being dealt with arrives through of rather than as a direct object. It suits weighty, deliberate efforts better than quick fixes.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The system of ropes, pulleys, and rigging used to operate a sailing vessel.

   The old ship's tackling needed replacing after years at sea.

   The crew inspected the tackling each morning to be sure the sails would hold.

   Similarrigging, tackle

   Note

   A sailor's collective word, where the -ing names gear rather than an action. It covers the ropes and blocks by which a vessel's sails and spars are worked, as distinct from the standing rigging that holds up the masts. In a nautical text it means equipment, never the act of grappling, so the ship's tackling is what the crew handles, not what they do.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The harness and gear used to hitch a horse for pulling a carriage.

   She oiled the tackling so the carriage horse would be comfortable on the long ride.

   The tackling slipped, and the carriage came loose on the steep hill.

   Similarharness, tack

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