Meaning & use
beading
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Meanings
noununcountable
The craft or activity of making things by stringing or sewing small beads, or the beads sewn on as decoration.
Grammar: Not used with 'a': she enjoys beading, but not 'a beading'.
Patterns
- do beading
- beading on something
She took up beading during the winter and now makes her own necklaces.
The beading on the wedding dress took three people two weeks to finish.
Fine beading along the neckline caught the light.
noununcountabletechnical
A narrow strip of molded wood or other material used as an edge or decorative trim on furniture, walls or frames.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: a length of beading, some beading.
Patterns
- a length of beading
- beading around something
The carpenter nailed thin beading around the edge of the panel.
We covered the gap between the floor and wall with wooden beading.
The old cabinet had decorative beading along each drawer.
Common combinations
- intricate beading
- The jacket was covered in intricate beading.
- hand beading
- The gown featured hand beading across the bodice.
- a length of beading
- He cut a length of beading to fit the window frame.
- learn beading
- She learned beading at a weekend workshop.
- wooden beading
- Wooden beading hid the join in the paneling.
Synonyms and how they differ
- beadwork
- Beadwork names the finished pieces or craft as a whole, while beading can also mean the act of sewing on beads or a trim strip.
- trim
- Trim is a general word for edge decoration of any kind, whereas beading is a specific narrow rounded strip or row of beads.
- molding
- Molding is a broader term for shaped decorative strips, and beading is one small, rounded type of it.
Word family
Commonly confused: beading or beating?
beading vs beating
Beating means hitting or defeating, and has a short vowel before the final sound pattern; beading has a long 'ee' sound and relates to beads.
Practice
The carpenter fixed a thin strip of ____ along the edge of the cabinet to hide the join.
Choose one answer.
Beading is the narrow decorative trim strip. The other options are real words but have nothing to do with trim.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “beading”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.