Underlining

noun, verb

noun, verb ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An act or instance of marking text with an underline. countable, uncountable

    "There are so many underlinings, so many exclamation points in the margins, and so much highlighting from my many readings and appreciatings that it looks like a case of severe book abuse. It is not; these are marks of love."

  2. 2
    A lining on the inside of a garment.
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of underline form-of, gerund, participle, present

Example

More examples

"My sister has the habit of underlining words she doesn't know while reading."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From underline + -ing.

Etymology 2

From under- + lining.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.