trimming

noun

trim·​ming ˈtri-miŋ 

1

a

: an additional garnishing

turkey and all the trimmings

b

: a decorative accessory or additional item

trimmings for a hat

c

: the remnants of something that has been trimmed : clipping

tree/grass/hedge trimmings

2

: defeat, beating

3

: the act of one who trims

Synonyms

• defeat
• beating
• loss
• whipping
• setback
• licking

Examples of trimming in a Sentence

our football team suffered a pretty severe trimming

Recent Examples on the Web

Border trimming tends to be a weak spot for robot lawn mowers, but the RockMow Z1 promises to get within 3 centimeters of walls, hopefully saving you from having to break out the edger. —Pcmag Staff, PC Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025

Any extra trimmings would land somewhere between glib and sacrilegious. —Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2025

But trimming isn’t enough to convince long-term buy-and-holders. —Brett Owens, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025

This year’s annual cast-trimming seems to have struck some fans particularly hard, what with the popular Walker, Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Heidi Gardner among producer Lorne Michaels’ chopping-block heads. —Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1525, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for trimming

• brimming
• dimming
• miming
• rimming
• skimming
• slimming
• swimming

Kids Definition

trimming

noun

trim·​ming

ˈtrim-iŋ

1

: the action of one that trims

2

: a severe defeat or beating

3

: something that trims, ornaments, or completes

trimmings for a hat

turkey with all the trimmings