uploading

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The process of transferring files or data from a local device to a remote computer or network.

   The uploading of the medical records finished overnight.

   Constant uploading drained the laptop's battery before noon.

   Similartransfer, transmission

   Oppositedownloading

   Note

   Unlike the gerund of the verb form, this noun takes articles, adjectives and a plural: the uploading of records, routine uploadings. Cristina Archetti's Understanding Terrorism in the Age of Global Media (2012) uses the plural for everyday material posted online. To tell the two apart, look at the object. The verb takes one directly (uploading files), while the noun needs of (the uploading of files).

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of upload.

   The server kept uploading the backup throughout the night.

   He spent the morning uploading documents to the new system.

   Note

   The -ing form does two jobs. With be it forms the progressive (the server was uploading all night), and as a gerund it names the activity (uploading takes time). It works with or without an object: you can upload photos, or simply upload. In Canada it also carries a political sense, where uploading a service shifts its jurisdiction and responsibility to a higher level of government.

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