hounding

/ˈhaʊndɪŋ/

//ˈhaʊndɪŋ// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"hounding" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hounding” is uncommon English (frequency #50,577 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,577
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of hound

Corpus desk

Index EN-hounding · hounding · English

hounding · rank #50,577 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,577
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hovercraft

Nearest frequency peer: hovercraft (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “hounding”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “hounding” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hounding
PropertyValue
Headwordhounding
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈhaʊndɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#50,577
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hounding” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).houndingfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “hovercraft” (#50,578), “Hosmer” (#50,575), “Howarth” (#50,579). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hounding” is #50,577. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hounding is uncommon English at frequency #50,577 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈhaʊndɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "present participle and gerund of hound".

hounding has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From hound + -ing. The correct English form is hounding, spelled H-O-U-N-D-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of hound

Etymology

From hound + -ing.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hounding"?
"hounding" is spelled H-O-U-N-D-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhaʊndɪŋ/.
What does "hounding" mean?
As a verb, "hounding" means: present participle and gerund of hound
How do you pronounce "hounding"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hounding" is /ˈhaʊndɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hounding"?
From hound + -ing. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hounding", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

honeybee#50,574homeroom#50,572Hennepin#50,565intranet#50,598

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list