(intransitive) To have a particular direction; to run; to stretch; to tend.
- The shore of the sea trends to the southwest.
(transitive) To cause to turn; to bend.
- Not farre beneath i' the Valley as ſhe trends / Her ſiluer ſtreame, ſome VVood-nymphs and her friends / That follovv'd to her aide, beholding hovv / The Brooke came gliding, […]1616, William Browne, “The Fourth Song”, in Britannia’s Pastorals. The Second Booke, London: […] Thomas Snodham for George Norton, […], →OCLC, page 110
(informal, intransitive, social media) To be the subject of a trend; to be currently popular, relevant or interesting.
- What topics have been trending on social networks this week?

Verb (2)

trend (third-person singular simple present trends, present participle trending, simple past and past participle trended)

Adjective

trending (not comparable)

(Internet) Popular or becoming more popular.
- […] the only conversation most people can keep track of is what’s trending on social media.2015 September 28, Yesha Callahan, “Social Media Is Driving the TV Conversation”, in The New York Times
Synonyms:

hot, popular, in demand, sought-after

trending (plural trendings)

plural	trendings

From trend + -ing.

From Middle English trendinge, trendynge, equivalent to trend + -ing.

What does trending mean?: Trending means popular or becoming more popular.
What is trending the present participle and gerund of?: Trending is the present participle and gerund of trend.
What part of speech is trending?: Trending can be an adjective or a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: trending (page history and authors); trend (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: “trending.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trending. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.