texting

noun

text·​ing ˈtek-stiŋ 

: the act or activity of sending text messages from one cell phone to another

When I moved to Chicago, I used a paper map that folded in your lap to navigate the city. There was no Internet, no e-mail, no texting … . A few people in the late eighties had giant cell phones that lived in tiny suitcases, and I saw some in movies.

—Amy Poehler

Texting freed a generation from the strictures and inconvenience (and awkwardness) of phone calls, while allowing people to be more loosely and constantly connected.

—Jenna Wortham

Examples of texting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As the fallout from the now-infamous Signal chat continues to unfold, Sean Rameswaram sought a different type of lesson from this week’s news: a lesson on texting. —Sean Rameswaram, Vox, 30 Mar. 2025

The lawsuit also alleges that two pastors raised concerns to the Salvation Army about Collier texting with Neville and keeping her out past curfew, but no one followed up. —Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC news, 26 Mar. 2025

Contrast that with all the drivers in Los Angeles texting and driving. —Brooke Crothers, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025

But on that wintry English eve, texting began its journey to the heart of our daily experience. —Scott Nover, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for texting

• bowstring
• coiling
• downswing
• drawstring
• forewing
• hamstring
• lapwing
• mainspring
• offspring
• plaything
• shoestring
• upswing