sitting

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪtɪŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtɪŋ
• Hyphenation: sit‧ting

Noun

sitting (plural sittings)

1. A period during which one is seated for a specific purpose.

   Due to the sheer volume of guests, we had to have two sittings for the meal.

   The Queen had three sittings for her portrait.

2. A legislative session.
3. The act (of a bird) of incubating eggs.
4. A clutch of eggs laid by a brooding bird.

   we have thirty-four chicks from eight sittings of eggs

Verb

sitting

1. present participle of sit

Adjective

sitting (not comparable)

1. Executed from a sitting position.
2. Occupying a specific official or legal position; incumbent.
   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.