marshalling

marshalling is the present participle and gerund of marshal.

Noun

marshalling (countable and uncountable, plural marshallings)

The process of transforming the memory representation of an object to a data format suitable for storage or transmission, which is typically used when data must be moved between different parts of a computer program, or from one program to another.
The arrangement of an escutcheon to exhibit the alliances of the owner.
The sorting of rolling stock in a marshalling yard.
- It is the first British yard in which every activity of hump marshalling, except for the driving of the hump locomotive and the uncoupling and coupling of wagons, is fully automatic or drastically simplified by modern aids.1960 June, “Talking of trains: The new Margam yard”, in Trains Illustrated, page 323
- He wanted to see less marshalling of trains, and a move away from a culture that allowed 85% of a wagon's life to be spent "empty, being used as storage bins for goods or in sidings as coal scuttles".2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 42

Meaning of marshal

Verb

marshal (third-person singular simple present marshals, present participle (US) marshaling or (UK) marshalling, simple past and past participle (US) marshaled or (UK) marshalled)

To arrange (troops, etc.) in line for inspection or a parade.
- Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water’s edge.1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
(broadly) To arrange (facts, etc.) in some methodical order.
- Within a blue garter inscribed "Great Northern Railway Ireland" is a shield, on which are marshalled the arms of the principal towns in the company's area. The shield is divided quarterly with the arms of Dublin in the first quarter, Londonderry in the second quarter, Enniskillen in the third, and...1956 July, Col. H. C. B. Rogers, “Railway Heraldry”, in Railway Magazine, pages 476-477
To ceremoniously guide, conduct or usher.
- Our conquering ſwords ſhal marſhal vs the way
  UUe vſe to martch vpon the ſlaughtered foe:
  Trampling their bowels with our horſes hoofes: […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
To gather data for transmission.
(transitive) To serialize an object into a marshalled state represented by a sequence of bytes that can later be converted back into an object with equivalent properties.

Synonyms:

serialize, encode

See all 12 meanings of marshal

Forms of marshalling

Verb
alternative form	marshaling
Noun
plural	marshallings

Phrases with marshalling

Questions about marshalling

What does marshalling mean?: Marshalling means the process of transforming the memory representation of an object to a data format suitable for storage or transmission, which is typically used when data must be moved between different parts of a computer program, or from one program to another.
What is marshalling the present participle and gerund of?: Marshalling is the present participle and gerund of marshal.
What part of speech is marshalling?: Marshalling is a noun.
What is the plural of marshalling?: The plural of marshalling is marshallings.

Words near marshalling in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: marshalling (page history and authors); marshal (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

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