wishing

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of wish.

   He sat by the fountain, wishing his luck would turn.

   Crowds gathered at midnight, wishing the new year would bring better fortune.

   Note

   The participle keeps every construction of the verb, so the words that follow it decide the meaning. Wishing for rain is hoping, often against the odds. Wishing to leave is asking to. Wishing someone luck hands them a good thought. A clause with may, as in wishing that peace may come, is the archaic pattern. Unlike the countable noun, this form never takes a plural.

   She slipped out early, wishing everyone a good night.

   Anyone wishing to speak should raise a hand.

2. 2
   noun

   Gerund of wish.

   A lifetime of wishing had taught her to act instead of hope.

   There was a quiet hope in his wishing, even when nothing came of it.

   Note

   Once wishing becomes a true noun, it can do something no verb form can: take a plural. Chambers's Papers for the People (1852) piles up "wishings, wishings, wishings" for a lover's repeated longing. The 1539 Mimi Publiani warns that whatever comes "by wishing" is none of yours. Use the plural for many separate acts of wishing, and the singular for the habit itself.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2