vacuuming

Pluralvacuumings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of vacuum.

   The crew was vacuuming the office floors long after midnight.

   Vacuuming under the heavy furniture is the part everyone forgets.

   Note

   The -ing form does double duty. After be it builds the progressive (they were vacuuming), and on its own it acts as a gerund, a verbal noun (Vacuuming is tedious). It works with or without an object: vacuuming the stairs, or simply vacuuming. Database administrators use it too, for vacuuming a table to clear out deleted tuples. The same spelling also serves as a countable noun.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A single act or instance of cleaning a surface with a vacuum cleaner.

   After the renovation, the whole house got a thorough vacuuming.

   One vacuuming a week is rarely enough in a home with pets.

   Similarhoovering, cleaning

   Note

   Unlike the gerund, this noun takes an article and adjectives, as in a quick vacuuming or a thorough vacuuming. It can also be counted and made plural. The thing cleaned follows with of, so the stairs get a vacuuming of their own, not a vacuuming them. That is the easiest test for telling the two apart in a sentence.

3. 3
   noununcountableplural

   The dust, dirt, and debris collected by a vacuum cleaner.

   She tipped the vacuuming into the compost to check for a lost earring.

   A surprising amount of vacuuming turned out to be pet hair and lint.

   Similarsweepings, dust, dirt, debris

   Note

   Usually a plural noun when it means the stuff itself: you empty the vacuumings, or put the vacuumings in the bin. The plural keeps it apart from a single round of cleaning, which is an ordinary count noun (a quick vacuuming). Compare sweepings and shavings, other plurals that name what an action leaves behind.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   An abdominal exercise that involves drawing the stomach inward and holding the contraction to strengthen the deep core muscles.

   Classic bodybuilders relied on vacuuming to achieve that tight, tapered midsection.

   She practices vacuuming between sets to keep her core engaged.

   Note

   A shorter name for the vacuum exercise, a core-training technique. You exhale fully, draw the abdominal wall in toward the spine, and hold it to build deep trunk control. Like the names of many practices, it usually goes without an article: she does vacuuming between sets. Keep it apart from a round of cleaning, which takes a or the.

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