tattooing

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act of marking a part of the body, usually the skin, with a tattoo.

   Her shop offers tattooing and piercing six days a week.

   The museum exhibit traces the history of tattooing from ancient rituals to modern studios.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of tattoo.

   She spent the summer tattooing clients at a busy studio downtown.

   The cleanup hitter has been tattooing fastballs all week.

   Note

   Three quite different verbs share this form. Tattooing a client means inking the skin; tattooing a tabletop means drumming on it with the fingers; and a hitter tattooing the ball strikes it so hard it seems to leave a mark on it. Used as a gerund, naming the activity itself (tattooing takes years to learn), it shades into the noun for marking the skin.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   Producing a rhythm by repeatedly striking a drum.

   A steady tattooing of snare drums led the soldiers onto the parade ground.

   The drummer kept up a nervous tattooing on the snare while the singer tuned her guitar.

   Similardrumming, beating

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