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fording

fording

1 6.9
Crossing a shallow part of a river by walking or driving through it
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔrdɪŋ/
translation icon : cruce
  • Grace must have been parched on the final day as they approached the fording.

Examples

  • Before fording the creek, they checked the water depth to ensure it was safe.

  • Let's not die while fording this river.

  • It was an easy fording, just a thin, late summer stream twirling over pebbles.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The implication that Xerxes' defeat, following his eventual fording of the channel in Greece, was related to or even a direct outcome of the cruel and impious way in which he treated the Hellespont is very strong in Herodotus.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Berry, William D., Evan J. Ringquist, Richard C. Fording, and Russell L. Hanson. 1998. "Measuring Citizen and Government Ideology in the American States, 1960-1993." American Journal of Political Science 42:327-48.

    Academic text (2016)
  • The creek is not a substantial stream; if traffic had to cross, its shallow, rock-floored bed and narrow channel—less than 30 feet across in most places—would have offered little challenge to fording wagons unless it was in flood.

    Academic text (2004)
  • In the summer, we enjoyed fording the shallow river to reach the cool swimming spots.

  • The hikers took great care while fording the stream, as the current was stronger than it looked.

Synonyms

crossing
vsfording
42 1.9

Going across something like a road, river, or sea

is specifically about moving through shallow water rather than any barrier
ford
vsfording
1 5.3

Crossing a shallow part of a river by walking, riding, or driving

is the same action but expressed as the activity noun form
shallow fording
vsfording
7.0

To walk or drive across a shallow part of a river

is the same act but without stressing safety

Antonyms

39 3.7

Keeping away from something or stopping it from happening

Compounds

A place where people cross a river with deep water

To walk or drive across a shallow part of a river

How Difficult

ferryboat
3 2.6
fording
1 6.9
to bridge
4 3.1

Surface Forms

fording singular
fordings plural

Morphology

fording = ford (transparent) = ford + ing

The noun denotes the act of crossing and is directly formed from the verb 'ford' with the productive '-ing' nominalization.

Etymology

The word fording comes from the old English word ford, which means 'a shallow place in a river where you can cross'. Think of 'Oxford' — a place where oxen crossed the water — and that's why fording means crossing a stream at a shallow spot.