ironing

ironing is the present participle and gerund of iron.

Noun

ironing (countable and uncountable, plural ironings)

The act of pressing clothes with an iron, such as a steam iron.
- I hate ironing.
Laundry that has been washed and is ready to be ironed.
- I really should make a start on the ironing soon.
Laundry that has recently been ironed.
- I really should put the ironing away.

iron (third-person singular simple present irons, present participle ironing, simple past and past participle ironed)

(transitive) To pass an iron over (clothing or some other item made of cloth) in order to remove creases.
- You'd be wise to iron that shirt before you wear it.
Synonyms:

press
(intransitive) To engage in such pressing of clothing.
- They were washing and ironing all morning.
(archaic, transitive) To shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff.
- [...] is it he who is ironed like a malefactor—who is to be dragged on a hurdle to the common gallows—to die a lingering and cruel death, and to be mangled by the hand of the most outcast of wretches?1814, Walter Scott, Waverley
(transitive) To furnish, clad, or arm with iron.
- to iron a wagon

plural	ironings

What does ironing mean?: Ironing means the act of pressing clothes with an iron, such as a steam iron.
What is ironing the present participle and gerund of?: Ironing is the present participle and gerund of iron.
What part of speech is ironing?: Ironing is a noun.
What is the plural of ironing?: The plural of ironing is ironings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ironing (page history and authors); iron (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-ironing.wav.

Cite this entry: “ironing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ironing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.