distancing

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of distance

plural distancings

1. countableuncountableThe process of becoming or making distant.

   If you were apprehensive, you were in the good company of Dylan aficionados still grappling with the trickster mystique of the 66-year-old singer-songwriter who see the Pulitzer as another chapter in his complicated history with the establishment, an ongoing dance of distancings and détentes.

   2008 April 13, Dave Itzkoff, “Bob Dylan Finally Gets His Pulitzer. His What?”, in New York Times

2. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of social distancing.

   distancing laws

   2 more examples

   new distancing rules

   As of today, the rationale for deploying the distancing measure in public is that COVID-19 spreads through means such as touching, coughing and sneezing.

   2021 January 24, Kristine Sørensen et al., “Rebranding social distancing to physical distancing: calling for a change in the health promotion vocabulary to enhance clear communication during a pandemic”, in Global Health Promotion