listing

listing — noun

1. a public record or announcement that appears alongside similar items — for examp

1.nounB1
Definition

a public record or announcement that appears alongside similar items — for example, an apartment for rent on a website, an open position advertised through a recruitment board, or a company accepted for trading on a stock exchange.

Example

Ayana found several apartment listings in her budget range on the rental website.

collocation: apartment listing / property listing

The company's stock listing was suspended after the accounting investigation.

collocation: stock listing (financial market)

Common collocations
  • job listing
  • property listing
  • stock listing
  • directory listing
  • event listing
  • online listing
  • apartment listing
  • rental listing
Synonyms
  • entry

    focuses on one single item within a larger list; less common for property contexts

  • register

    more formal; suggests an official, authoritative record

  • catalogue

    implies items organised in a structured, often thematic order; more common for products or library materials

Antonyms
  • delisting

    the removal of an item from a published list, especially in stock markets

Grammar Patterns

a listing of [items]

a [domain] listing

Usage Note

Often combined with a preceding noun to specify the type, such as job listing, property listing, stock listing, or directory listing. The word can refer either to the whole published collection (e.g. 'the online listings') or to a single item within it (e.g. 'a listing for a studio apartment').

Common Mistakes

I added a list of my house for sale online.
I added a listing of my house for sale online.
A 'listing' is specifically a published entry, while a 'list' is any ordered set of items.

2. the activity or process of putting items into a list, often in an organised or o

2.nounB2
Definition

the activity or process of putting items into a list, often in an organised or official way — for example, recording the names of endangered species, adding items to an agenda, or cataloguing books in a library.

Example

The listing of all endangered birds took the research team six months to complete.

pattern: the listing of + [specific items]

The committee approved the listing of three new proposals on the meeting agenda.

formal register: committee / approved the listing of

Common collocations
  • the listing of
  • accurate listing
  • careful listing
  • formal listing
  • listing procedure
  • listing process
Synonyms
  • cataloguing

    suggests a more systematic, detailed organisation, often with descriptions

  • recording

    broader; includes any way of keeping information, not necessarily in list form

  • enumeration

    very formal; emphasises counting items one by one

Antonyms
  • delisting

    the formal removal of an item from a list, particularly in stock exchanges

Grammar Patterns

the listing of [items]

Usage Note

This sense is uncountable when referring to the general activity ('Listing takes time'), but countable when referring to a specific instance ('The listing of the items took two hours'). Typically followed by of + noun phrase indicating what is being listed.

Common Mistakes

The listing of the computer parts were completed yesterday.
The listing of the computer parts was completed yesterday.
'Listing' as an uncountable or singular activity takes a singular verb.

Word family

  • list
    nounA2
  • list
    verbB1
  • listed
    adjectiveB2
  • unlisted
    adjectiveC1
  • delist
    verbC1
  • delisting
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A listing is a published piece of information that is made available to the public, such as a property, job, or stock market item. An entry is a single item within any list — it is broader and less specific to publishing contexts. A register is a formal, official record that is often maintained by an authority, such as a land register or a company register. A catalogue suggests a systematically organised collection, usually with descriptions, such as a product catalogue or a library catalogue. For example, a house advertised online is a listing; the same house in a government database is a register entry; a library's collection is a catalogue.

listing ↗entry ↗register ↗catalogue ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • list
  • listings page
  • listings directory

Phrases

  • a listing for [item]
  • in the listings

Prepositions

  • listing of

Etymology

Old EnglishOld FrenchEnglish

Formed by adding the suffix -ing to the noun list, creating a noun that means either 'the result of listing' (sense 1) or 'the act of listing' (sense 2). The word list itself comes from Old English liste meaning 'a strip or border' and from Old French liste meaning 'a strip of paper' or 'a written roll'. The modern sense of 'a series of written names or items' developed in the 1600s.