hoarding

noun

1. (historical)A roofed wooden shield placed over the battlements of a castle and projecting from them.
2. (Australia, Canada, Hong-Kong, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK)A temporary fence-like structure built around building work to add security and prevent accidents to the public.

   “Making inquiries she came to a hoarding, within which were excavations denoting the foundations of a building; and on the boards without one or two large posters announcing that the foundation-stone of the chapel about to be erected would be laid that afternoon at three o’clock by a London preacher of great popularity among his body.”

   “A hoarding is a legal requirement for the safety of the public on a building site. There are rules about its height and construction. But of course it is also the perfect opportunity: a blank canvas on which to show a vision of the life soon to be lived behind it.”

   “They’re a familiar sight to many: the eye-roll-inducing, over-the-top development hoardings and adverts that celebrate the (inevitably luxury and, to most people, unaffordable) developments soon to be added to the city skyline.”

   “The west side is one massive building site, although it's hard to appreciate what's going on behind all the hoardings.”

3. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK)A billboard.

   “Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when he was born.”

   “Today, by radio, and also on giant hoardings, a rabbi, an admiral notorious for his links to Masonry, a trio of cardinals, a trio, too, of insignificant politicians (bought and paid for by a rich and corrupt Anglo-Canadian banking corporation), inform us all of how our country now risks dying of starvation.”

   “But holidaymakers arriving this weekend in Positano, on the Amalfi coast, are more likely to find their gaze captured by a vast Volkswagen Golf. The car, pictured on a giant hoarding, has launched the latest row over intrusive advertising in Italy's historic towns and cities.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The practice of accumulating goods.

   “But that doesn’t solve harder questions about the hoarding of vaccines, raw materials and patent rights in the west, or the fact that Covax clearly isn’t working as fast as it should.”

5. (countable)A good which is hoarded.
6. (countable, uncountable)An anxiety disorder characterized by a compulsive need to accumulate goods and feelings of anxiety or discomfort about discarding such goods.

   “Hoarding can be distressing and dangerous. But it’s not just a matter of ‘too much stuff’ – it’s a complex condition that requires careful, targeted help[.]”

verb

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