touring

Pluraltourings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of tour.

   The orchestra is touring Europe for the first time in a decade.

   She spent the summer touring small coastal villages by bicycle.

   Note

   A form that does two jobs and follows the verb tour in being either transitive or intransitive. With an object it means making a circuit of a place (touring Europe). Without one it simply means journeying (touring by bicycle). As a gerund it fills a noun's slot, as in "touring small villages took all summer", where the whole phrase acts as the subject.

2. 2
   adjective

   Working for a short time across a series of different places rather than staying in one location.

   The touring consultant spent two days at each regional office before moving on.

   Touring performers often play a different venue every single night.

   Similartraveling, itinerant, roving, peripatetic

   Oppositeresident

   Note

   Here the touring is done by people: a touring company, touring performers, a consultant moving from office to office. Contrast the sense for travel gear, where the word describes equipment built for the journey, such as a touring bike. The adjective is not comparable. A company is touring or it is not, so "more touring" does not work.

3. 3
   adjective

   Designed for journeying through a country or region, or otherwise related to tourism.

   The touring motorcycle came with extra storage for long-distance travel.

   She prefers a touring bicycle built for comfort over many miles.

   Note

   Cyclists give this sense its most exact meaning. A touring bike is built to carry rear panniers on long trips, so it has long chainstays, 435mm at minimum, that keep a rider's heels from striking the bags. Riders with large feet notice the difference first on an ordinary bike. The compound touring-specific is hyphenated when it stands before a noun.

4. 4
   nouncolloquialcountable

   An open automobile designed for comfortable long-distance pleasure driving.

   He restored a vintage touring in his garage over the winter.

   The old touring rolled down the country road with its top folded back.

   Similartourer

   Note

   A clipping that turns the adjective into a countable noun with its own plural, tourings. It belongs to car enthusiasts' talk, where tourings sit beside roadsters as body styles. Cars and Parts in 1988 describes a 40-hp machine offered in four body styles, tourings and roadsters. In general writing, the full form touring car is the safer choice.

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