plural hoardings
1
a
: the practice of collecting or accumulating something (such as money or food)
The hoarding and misuse of resources was uncommon even in times of natural disaster …—
Tanvi Nagpal
Tanvi Nagpal
b
: something that is hoarded
—usually plural
Inside the net with us was a large brown paper bag, spewing forth the Halloween hoardings of the child in the gorilla suit …—John Irving
John Irving2
psychology
: the compulsion to continually accumulate a variety of items that are often considered useless or worthless by others accompanied by an inability to discard the items without great distress
Hoarding is marked by an overwhelming desire to collect items and an inability to discard things that may seem useless, to such a point that the collections cause stress and start impacting a person's health, career or relationships.—Erin Allday
Erin AlldayPeople justify hoarding as curating and recycling, deeming odd objects beautiful and useful.—Peter D. Kramer
see also hoarding disorder
Peter D. Kramer
plural hoardings
1
: a temporary board fence put about a building being erected or repaired
called also hoard
2
British
: billboard
Examples of hoarding in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Loading and editing Illustrator files was just as snappy as doing the same on the MacBook Pro M2 Max, as were the usual doom scrolling, browser tab hoarding, and other things that enhance your productivity and take it away at the same time.
—Antonio G. Di Benedetto, The Verge, 30 Oct. 2024
Self-preservation behaviors among leaders and employees – a culture of finger pointing, blame games and credit hoarding is a strong symptom of a workplace that is mired in a ‘lack of’ mindset, pitting individuals against one another vs. working collectively towards a common goal.
—Heather V. MacArthur, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Recent toilet-paper hoarding was more prevalent among Americans than Europeans and more prevalent among the old than the young.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hoarding 
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Noun
Johnny Carson was so popular during his heyday that a late-night quip about a toilet paper shortage caused a run on the product at grocery stores across the country in 1973, nearly a half-century before widespread pandemic hoarding of that important bathroom product.
—Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Loading and editing Illustrator files was just as snappy as doing the same on the MacBook Pro M2 Max, as were the usual doom scrolling, browser tab hoarding, and other things that enhance your productivity and take it away at the same time.
—Antonio G. Di Benedetto, The Verge, 30 Oct. 2024
Self-preservation behaviors among leaders and employees – a culture of finger pointing, blame games and credit hoarding is a strong symptom of a workplace that is mired in a ‘lack of’ mindset, pitting individuals against one another vs. working collectively towards a common goal.
—Heather V. MacArthur, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Recent toilet-paper hoarding was more prevalent among Americans than Europeans and more prevalent among the old than the young.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hoarding
Articles Related to hoarding
Dictionary Entries Near hoarding
Cite this Entry
“Hoarding.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoarding. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
hoarding
noun
hoard·ing
ˈhȯrd-iŋ 
: the compulsion to continually accumulate a variety of items that are often considered useless or worthless by others accompanied by an inability to discard the items without great distress
Hoarding is marked by an overwhelming desire to collect items and an inability to discard things that may seem useless, to such a point that the collections cause stress and start impacting a person's health, career or relationships.—Erin Allday
Erin AlldayPeople justify hoarding as curating and recycling, deeming odd objects beautiful and useful.—Peter D. Kramer
see hoarding disorder
Peter D. KramerLove words? Need even more definitions?
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