fasting

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of fast

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Abstinence or mortification for religious reasons, especially abstinence from food.

   “Long vigils—fastings that wore away the strength of day—prayers that banished sleep from night—hoarded vengeance, that, like a fire, consumed its abode—affections crushed to the very earth—a memory whose love was with the grave,—a faith that had coloured itself with mortal passion,—all these had pressed too heavily on the springs of life and thought;...”

   “Immediately after that affair Lady Wondershoot, casting about for exemplary additions to the abuse and fastings she had inflicted, issued a Ukase. She issued it first to her butler, and very suddenly, so that she made him jump.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Abstinence from food, limiting caloric intake, for medical or health reasons, dieting.

   “an obese patient while he was undergoing fasting for weight reduction”