Word.ws English Dictionary

mopping

mopping is the present participle and gerund of mop.

Noun

mopping (plural moppings)

  1. The process of cleaning with a mop.
    • Even as it buckled over the years and the nail heads at the edges popped up and rusted from repeated moppings, that floor symbolized her unyielding independence.2013, Evelyn I. Funda, Weeds: A Farm Daughter's Lament, page 32
  2. An application of molten asphalt to a roof etc.

Meaning of mop

Verb (1)

mop (third-person singular simple present mops, present participle mopping, simple past and past participle mopped)

  1. (transitive) To rub, scrub, clean or wipe with a mop, or as if with a mop.
    • to mop (or scrub) a floor
  2. (US, slang) To shoplift.
    • By “mopping” (stealing) the clothes and accessories necessary to effect their look, or by buying breasts, reconstructed noses, lifted chins, and female genitals, the children turn traditional ideas of labor around: […]2013, Martha Gever, Pratibha Parmar, John Greyson, Queer Looks, page 111

Verb (2)

mop (third-person singular simple present mops, present participle mopping, simple past and past participle mopped)

  1. (intransitive) To make a wry expression with the mouth.
    • Flibbertigibbet, [is scared of] moping and mowing, who since possesses chambermaids and waiting-womenc. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

See all 17 meanings of mop

Forms of mopping

pluralmoppings

Phrases with mopping

Words that rhyme with mopping

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about mopping

What does mopping mean?
Mopping means the process of cleaning with a mop.
What is mopping the present participle and gerund of?
Mopping is the present participle and gerund of mop.
What part of speech is mopping?
Mopping is a noun.
What is the plural of mopping?
The plural of mopping is moppings.

Words near mopping in the dictionary

  1. moppetry
  2. moppets
  3. Moppett
  4. moppier
  5. moppiest
  6. mopping
  7. mopping down
  8. mopping the floor with someone
  9. mopping up
  10. mopping up the ice
  11. moppings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mopping (page history and authors); mop (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:

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