gaming

noun

gam·​ing ˈgā-miŋ 

1

: the practice or activity of playing games for stakes : gambling

After a six-decade absence, casino gaming makes its return next month to this Southern Indiana valley, once famous for luxury resorts that attracted the nation's elite.

—Michael Rubino

In the same way, casino owners almost never refer to "gambling," which brings to mind damp basements and dice, but always "gaming," which suggests Whist or Scrabble enjoyed in front of a crackling fireplace.

—Wayne Curtis

—often used before another noun

the gaming industry

2

: the practice or activity of playing games (such as board games, card games, or video games)

online/mobile/PC gaming

When most people think of computer gaming, they envision some things that aren't exactly politically correct. Things like blazing lasers, spattering blood and beheaded aliens. However, Internet gaming really does offer something for everyone.

—Kim Komando

—often used before another noun

You can get curved gaming monitors too, for added immersion in certain games.

—Jon Martindale

After looking through the gaming options, we decided on Quick Draw—a game that gives one participant a word to draw, while the other callers try to guess what the word is.

—Becca Miller

Examples of gaming in a Sentence

He does a lot of gaming online.

Recent Examples on the Web

Many LitRPG readers grew up gaming or playing tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons. —Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 9 May 2026

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Nintendo will hike the retail price of the Switch 2 after forecasting a decline in sales for its flagship console as the memory chip crunch hits the Japanese gaming giant. —Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 8 May 2026

Totoki flagged a current memory shortage – driven by surging AI infrastructure demand – as an issue rippling across gaming, smartphones, laptops and memory cards. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 8 May 2026

Level99, the gaming venue planned for Disney Springs, has announced a summertime opening and an initial hunt for 150 employees. —Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

game entry 1 or game entry 3 + -ing entry 1

First Known Use

1501, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing gaming

• tabletop gaming

Rhymes for gaming

• aiming
• blaming
• claiming
• flaming
• framing
• laming
• maiming
• naming
• shaming
• taming
• declaiming
• defaming

Kids Definition

gaming

noun

gam·​ing

ˈgā-miŋ

1

: the practice of gambling

2

: the acting out of a situation (as war) for training or testing

3

: the playing of video games