viewing.

1. An occasion when people may look at the body of someone who has died before the funeral or burial.

2. An arranged visit to inspect a house or other property that may be bought or rented.

3. The activity of watching a film or program, or an occasion arranged for people to watch it.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• attend a viewing
• a private viewing
• a viewing before the funeral

On the page

At the viewing, she stood beside the coffin without recognizing his hands.

The family asked for a private viewing before the doors were opened to friends.

The agent canceled the viewing when she found the cellar door open.

During the viewing, he noticed that every mirror had been removed.

After several viewings, she noticed the figure reflected in the window.

Usage notes

Countable event noun: a viewing, viewings. Also uncountable for the activity of watching. Accepted for independently lexicalized event meanings, especially the funeral occasion, not as an ordinary participle of view. The generic verb view is not separately added in this batch. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common; funeral and property uses vary by region (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).