# shadowing

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈʃædəʊɪŋ/ · frequency rank #35,511

## Definitions
1. The effect of being shadowed (in the sense of blocked), as from a light source or radio transmission.
2. The situation where a person repeats speech immediately as they hear it (usually through earphones).
3. Secretly or discreetly tracking or following someone, keeping under surveillance.
4. A faint representation; an adumbration.
5. The technique of copying ROM contents to RAM to allow for shorter access times. The ROM chip is then disabled while the initialized memory locations are switched in on the same block of addresses.
6. A work experience option where students learn about a job by walking through the work day as a shadow to a competent worker.

## Etymology
From shadow (verb) + -ing (suffix forming nouns denoting the act of doing something, an action, or the embodiment of an action; or forming present participles of verbs).

## Easily confused with
- **showing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shadowing-vs-showing)
- **shading** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shading-vs-shadowing)

## Common misspellings (14)
`hsadowing`, `sahdowing`, `shaddowing`, `shadoiwng`, `shadowign`, `shadowingg`, `shadowinng`, `shadownig`, `shadowwing`, `shadwoing`, `shaodwing`, `shdaowing`, `shhadowing`, `sshadowing`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shadowing