counting
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- the act of counting; reciting numbers in ascending order“the counting continued for several hours”Synonyms: countnumerationenumerationreckoningtallyType of investigation, investigatingKinds census, blood count, miscount, countdown, poll, recount, sperm count
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
“counting” is listed under Count.
Origin: OF. conter, and later (etymological spelling) compter, in modern French thus distinguished; conter to relate (cf. Recount, Account), compter to count; fr. L. computuare to reckon, compute; com- + putare to reckon, settle, order, prune, orig., to clean. See Pure, and cf. Compute.
1. To tell or name one by one, or by groups, for the purpose of ascertaining the whole number of units in a collection; to number; to enumerate; to compute; to reckon.
Who can count the dust of Jacob?— Num. xxiii. 10.
In a journey of forty miles, Avaux counted only three miserable cabins.— Thomas Babington Macaulay
2. To place to an account; to ascribe or impute; to consider or esteem as belonging.
Abracham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.— Rom. iv. 3.
3. To esteem; to account; to reckon; to think, judge, or consider.
I count myself in nothing else so happy As in a soul remembering my good friends.— William Shakespeare
To count out. (a) To exclude (one) from consideration; to be assured that (one) will not participate or cannot be depended upon. (b) House of Commons To declare adjourned, as a sitting of the House, when it is ascertained that a quorum is not present. (c) To prevent the accession of (a person) to office, by a fraudulent return or count of the votes cast; — said of a candidate really elected. colloquial
Synonyms: To calculate; number; reckon; compute; enumerate. See Calculate.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54