Trimming

How to spell trimming

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce trimming

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does trimming mean?

1. nounA decorative addition sewn or fixed onto something to finish or adorn it.
2. nounThe act of cutting something to make it neat, or the small pieces removed by such cutting.

Trimming in a sentence

• The coat had a fine velvet trimming along the collar.

• The hedge needed a thorough trimming before the inspection.

• She chose a gold trimming for the edge of the curtains.

• A quick trimming of the budget freed up enough money for the repair.

Where does trimming come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the verb 'trim', which traces back to the Old English trymman or trymian, meaning 'to strengthen, make firm, or set in order'. In early use the idea was about putting things into good condition and proper arrangement, and you can still hear that in expressions like a ship 'in good trim'. By the 1500s 'trim' had narrowed toward the familiar senses of cutting something to a neat shape and adding decoration to make it look finished. The form 'trimming' simply adds the -ing suffix, and the spelling trap lives there: because 'trim' ends in a single vowel plus a single consonant with stress on that syllable, the m is doubled before -ing, giving the double-m that writers sometimes drop. The two everyday meanings, the cuttings removed and the ornamental additions put on, sit on opposite sides of the same root idea of tidying something up.

How the word is built

• trim (root: to make neat, from Old English trymman 'to make firm, arrange')
• -m- (doubled consonant before suffix)
• -ing (noun/participle suffix)