thanking

SayTHANK-ing/ˈθæŋkɪŋ/

Noun pluralthankings

2 meanings of thanking

1
verb
Present participle and gerund of thank.
Thanking the crowd warmly, the winner stepped down from the stage.
The mayor spent the morning thanking volunteers one by one.
Note
A verb form that nearly always takes an object: you are thanking someone, or thanking them for something. The bare use, with no one thanked, is obsolete. With for it can also turn ironic and assign blame, as in thanking the weather for a ruined trip. As a gerund it keeps that direct object (thanking volunteers), which sets it apart from the countable noun, which takes of instead.
2
nouncountable or uncountable
The act by which thanks are given; an expression of gratitude.
Her thanking of each guest by name made the evening feel personal.
The ceremony closed with a formal thanking of the retiring staff.
Similaracknowledgment, recognition
Note
The noun that can be counted. Thankings, in the plural, names separate acts of gratitude. William Caxton's Fables of Esope (1484) speaks of rendering thankynges, and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure offers "many and hearty thankings." In Hugh Walpole's Wintersmoon (1928), thankings for wedding presents sit in a list of wedding chores. Where thanks names the gratitude itself, thankings can name the individual acts of giving it, one by one.

thanking is a form of thank

thank, verb: To show or express gratitude to someone for something, in words or through a gesture or reward. Full entry

Forms: thankthanks he/she/itthanking -ing formthanked past tense, past participle
Spelling: thank → thanking: add -ing

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