What is "walking"

Walking \Walk"ing\, a. & n. from Walk, v. Walking beam. See Beam, 10. Walking crane, a kind of traveling crane. See under Crane. Walking fern. (Bot.) See Walking leaf, below. Walking fish (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of Asiatic fishes of the genus Ophiocephalus, some of which, as Ophiocephalus marulius, become over four feet long. They have a special cavity over the gills lined with a membrane adapted to retain moisture to aid in respiration, and are thus able to travel considerable distances over the land at night, whence the name. They construct a curious nest for their young. Called also langya. Walking gentleman (Theater), an actor who usually fills subordinate parts which require a gentlemanly appearance but few words. [Cant] Walking lady (Theater), an actress who usually fills such parts as require only a ladylike appearance on the stage. Walking leaf.

1. (Bot.) A little American fern ( Camptosorus rhizophyllus); -- so called because the fronds taper into slender prolongations which often root at the apex, thus producing new plants.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A leaf insect. See under Leaf. Walking papers, or Walking ticket, an order to leave; dismissal, as from office; as, to get one's walking papers, i. e. to be dismissed or fired. [Colloq.] --Bartlett. Walking stick.

   1. A stick or staff carried in the hand for hand for support or amusement when walking; a cane.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) A stick insect; -- called also walking straw. See Illust. of Stick insect, under Stick.

      Walking wheel (Mach.), a prime mover consisting of a wheel driven by the weight of men or animals walking either in it or on it; a treadwheel.

Walk \Walk\ (w[add]k), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Walked; p. pr. & vb. n. Walking.] [OE. walken, probably from AS. wealcan to roll, turn, revolve, akin to D. walken to felt hats, to work a hat, G. walken to full, OHG. walchan to beat, to full, Icel. v[=a]lka to roll, to stamp, Sw. valka to full, to roll, Dan. valke to full; cf. Skr. valg to spring; but cf. also AS. weallian to roam, ramble, G. wallen. [root]130.]

1. To move along on foot; to advance by steps; to go on at a moderate pace; specifically, of two-legged creatures, to proceed at a slower or faster rate, but without running, or lifting one foot entirely before the other touches the ground.

   At the end of twelve months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
   --Dan. iv. 29.

   When Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
   --Matt. xiv. 29.

   Note: In the walk of quadrupeds, there are always two, and for a brief space there are three, feet on the ground at once, but never four.

2. To move or go on the feet for exercise or amusement; to take one's exercise; to ramble.

3. To be stirring; to be abroad; to go restlessly about; -- said of things or persons expected to remain quiet, as a sleeping person, or the spirit of a dead person; to go about as a somnambulist or a specter.

   I have heard, but not believed, the spirits of the dead May walk again.
   --Shak.

   When was it she last walked?
   --Shak.

4. To be in motion; to act; to move; to wag. [Obs.] ``Her tongue did walk in foul reproach.''
   --Spenser.

   Do you think I'd walk in any plot?
   --B. Jonson.

   I heard a pen walking in the chimney behind the cloth.
   --Latimer.

5. To behave; to pursue a course of life; to conduct one's self.

   We walk perversely with God, and he will walk crookedly toward us.
   --Jer. Taylor.

6. To move off; to depart. [Obs. or Colloq.]

   He will make their cows and garrans to walk.
   --Spenser.

   To walk in, to go in; to enter, as into a house.

   To walk after the flesh (Script.), to indulge sensual appetites, and to live in sin.
   --Rom. viii. 1.

   To walk after the Spirit (Script.), to be guided by the counsels and influences of the Spirit, and by the word of God.
   --Rom. viii. 1.

   To walk by faith (Script.), to live in the firm belief of the gospel and its promises, and to rely on Christ for salvation.
   --2 Cor. v.

7. To walk in darkness (Script.), to live in ignorance, error, and sin.
   --1 John i. 6.

   To walk in the flesh (Script.), to live this natural life, which is subject to infirmities and calamities.
   --2 Cor. x. 3.

   To walk in the light (Script.), to live in the practice of religion, and to enjoy its consolations.
   --1 John i. 7.

   To walk over, in racing, to go over a course at a walk; -- said of a horse when there is no other entry; hence, colloquially, to gain an easy victory in any contest.

   To walk through the fire (Script.), to be exercised with severe afflictions.
   --Isa. xliii. 2.

   To walk with God (Script.), to live in obedience to his commands, and have communion with him.

c.1400, present participle adjective from walk (v.). Walking sickness, one in which the sufferer is able to get about and is not bed-ridden, is from 1846. Walking wounded is recorded from 1917. Walking bass is attested from 1939 in jazz slang. Walking stick is recorded from 1570s; the insect so called from 1760.

1. 1 incarnate#English as a human; living. 2 Able to walk in spite of injury or sickness. 3 Characterized by or suitable for walking. n. (form of gerund walk English). v

2. (present participle of walk English)

adj. close enough to be walked to; "walking distance"; "the factory with the big parking lot...is more convenient than the walk-to factory" [syn: walk-to(a), walking(a)]

n. the act of traveling by foot; "walking is a healthy form of exercise" [syn: walk]

Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling.

Walking may also refer to:

Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals, and is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step. This applies regardless of the number of limbs - even arthropods, with six, eight or more limbs, walk.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the term walking includes activities such as walking in a park and trekking in the Alps. However, in Canada and the United States the term for a long, vigorous walk is hiking, while the word walking covers shorter walks, especially in an urban setting.

Walking is a 1968 Canadian animated short film directed and produced by Ryan Larkin for the National Film Board of Canada, composed of animated vignettes of how different people walk.

Following Larkin's work on In the Labyrinth for Expo 67, Larkin submitted a proposal to the NFB for a short film based on sketches of people walking. It took him two years to make the film—twice as long as expected—as he was perfecting new ink wash painting techniques in order to not repeat his earlier films. He was also absorbed in exploring human movements and behaviour, even setting up mirrors in his small studio to study his own motions.

It was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short Film at the 42nd Academy Awards. Excerpts from the film also appear in the Oscar-winning short about Larkin, Ryan.

Walking was one of seven NFB animated shorts acquired by the American Broadcasting Company, marking the first time NFB films had been sold to a major American television network. It aired on ABC in the fall of 1971 as part of the children’s television show Curiosity Shop, executive produced by Chuck Jones.

Walking, or sometimes referred to as "The Wild", is a lecture by Henry David Thoreau first delivered at the Concord Lyceum on April 23, 1851. Written between 1851 and 1860. Thoreau read the piece a total of ten times, more than any other of his lectures. "Walking" was first published as an essay in the Atlantic Monthly after his death in 1862. He considered it one of his seminal works, so much so, that he once wrote of the lecture, "I regard this as a sort of introduction to all that I may write hereafter." Thoreau constantly reworked and revised the piece throughout the 1850s, calling the essay Walking. "Walking" is a Transcendental essay in which Thoreau talks about the importance of nature to mankind, and how people cannot survive without nature, physically, mentally, and spiritually, yet we seem to be spending more and more time entrenched by society. For Thoreau walking is a self-reflective spiritual act that occurs only when you are away from society, that allows you to learn about who you are, and find other aspects of yourself that have been chipped away by society. "Walking" is an important cannon in the transcendental movement that would lay the foundation for his best known work, Walden. Along with Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature, and George Perkins Marsh's Man and Nature, it has become one of the most important essays in the environmental movement.