present participle
Working at a place or controlling equipment as part of a job.
She is manning the front desk today.
Two engineers are manning the controls.
American English
How to pronounce manning
verb · nounA1Very common word
MAAnihng
/ˈmæ.nɪŋ/
2 syllables · Stress the first syllable.
Form of man
Manning is used both in continuous verb forms and as the name of the activity of providing or using staff.
Working at a place or controlling equipment as part of a job.
Practice out loudMeanings & examples
present participle
Providing a place, vehicle, or machine with people to work or operate it.
The company is manning the emergency center all night.
The navy is manning the ship with a fresh crew.
gerund used as a noun
The activity of providing people to work at a place or operate equipment.
The job involves manning the phones at night.
The hardest task was manning the emergency center all night.
Useful expressions
made by people rather than by nature
The park has a man-made lake.
a person who does what he has promised
Maria trusts him because he is a man of his word.
an area not controlled by either side, especially in a war
The soldiers waited in no-man's-land.
Related words & forms
The plural noun is men, not mans. The verb doubles the final n before -ed and -ing: manned and manning.