Gerunds are words that are formed as verbs, but used as nouns. These words always end in “ing”. At times a noun can be added to a gerund and form a compound word.Here are some examples of nouns plus gerunds.
Drawing room: refers to a large room in a home that functions as a place where the owner can receive and entertain guests. Drawing-rooms are usually only found in very large houses with many rooms.
- The tour of the palace began in the drawing room.
- There were so many rooms in her new house, her favorite was the drawing room.
Looking Glass: is another way of saying mirror. A mirror or a looking-glass is a piece of glass that one can see their reflection in. Looking glass is not commonly interchanged with the word mirror, but it is used as a play on words or as a creative option for referring to a mirror.
- She looked at her reflection in the looking glass.
- I went to the store to buy a new looking glass.
Walking Stick: refers to a stick that someone can use to help them walk. It can be used because someone has a physical ailment that makes walking difficult, or it can be used as a fashion statement.
- The doctor suggested that I use a walking stick to help me put less pressure on my leg.
- Whenever he wears a three-piece suit he uses a walking stick to cap off the outfit.
Laughing Stock: refers to someone who is made fun of, mocked, and ridiculed. When someone is a laughing stock they have probably done something incredibly embarrassing.
- After falling on her food in front of the entire school in the cafeteria, she feared she’d be a laughing stock.
- No one wants to be the laughing stock of their school.
Skipping rope: refers to an activity or sport where one or more people jump over a rope that is swung. It can be swung by the same person who is jumping or it can be swung by two people while a third or more jump over the rope. In America this is more often called jump rope, but at times will be called skipping rope.
- Everyday the girls go out on the playground and enjoy skipping rope.
- He spends at least 30 minutes of his workout skipping rope.
Stepping stone: is when something is done to help someone or something get closer to a bigger goal. A stepping stone gets someone a little closer to what they ultimately want to do.
For example if someone takes a job as an assistant to someone who has the position that they ultimately want, that assistant position may be seen as a stepping stone.
- I don’t plan on doing this job forever, it’s just a stepping stone to where I ultimately want to end up.
- The purchase of a small local food delivery company was merely a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of dominating the grocery industry.
Horseback Riding: is the act of riding a horse. This could be riding a horse as a leisure activity or it could be done as a sport.
- I want to go horseback riding while I’m on vacation.
- She’s been horseback riding since she was a small child.
Air conditioning: is a system that controls temperature and humidity in an enclosed space. Air Conditioning is usually used when the temperature is high or the weather is humid.
- Even though the weather is starting to get cooler, I am still constantly running the air conditioning to combat the humidity.
- The summers are so hot that the air conditioning is running full blast nonstop.
Time consuming: refers to an activity that takes up a lot of time. It can be an activity that someone enjoys, or it can be an activity that they dislike.
- Doing the laundry for the entire family is so time consuming.
- I like engineering, but it’s a very time consuming major.
Bird watching: is the activity of watching birds for entertainment, tracking, or scientific purposes. This is usually done as a hobby by people who enjoy tracking the types of birds that live in their local environment.
- We woke up especially early in the morning today, because we are going bird watching.
- At first I thought it’d be boring, but birdwatching has become a relaxing hobby for me.
