Library / English Dictionary

COUNTING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of counting; reciting numbers in ascending order

Example:

the counting continued for several hours

Synonyms:

count; counting; enumeration; numeration; reckoning; tally

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("counting" is a kind of...):

investigating; investigation (the work of inquiring into something thoroughly and systematically)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "counting"):

blood count (the act of estimating the number of red and white corpuscles in a blood sample)

census; nose count; nosecount (a periodic count of the population)

countdown (counting backward from an arbitrary number to indicate the time remaining before some event (such as launching a space vehicle))

miscount (an inaccurate count)

poll (the counting of votes (as in an election))

recount (an additional (usually a second) count; especially of the votes in a close election)

sperm count (the act of estimating the number of spermatozoa in an ejaculate)

Derivation:

count (name or recite the numbers in ascending order)

count (determine the number or amount of)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

-ing form of the verb count

Credits

 Context examples: 

The fifth lumbar vertebra counting from the top down.

(L5 Vertebra, NCI Thesaurus)

“Four and three,” cried Hordle John, counting on his great fingers, “that makes seven. Ho, archer, I have thy cap! Now have at thee for thy jerkin!”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Two pound four and threepence,” cried Harrison, counting out all his worldly wealth.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I thought of Holmes tossing upon his bed of sickness and counting the minutes, perhaps, until I could bring help to him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He re-entered the log-house and set about counting up the stores as if nothing else existed.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The method of counting varies, according to the specific tumor examined.

(Mitotic Count, NCI Thesaurus)

An instrument for counting the number of steps taken while walking.

(Pedometer, NCI Thesaurus)

But, humans use a different method and look at the whole group of items before counting them.

(Scientists Discover Bees Can Count Using Only Four Brain Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Over the years, nutrition science has become more sophisticated, and research by ARS scientists is showing that counting calories isn't always as simple as it may seem.

(Going Nuts Over Calories, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

He considered that it might be done in one thousand six hundred and forty-nine years, counting from the Doctor's last, or sixty-second, birthday.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)