Warehousing is the business of keeping large amounts of goods in a building until they are needed — storing them, keeping them safe and dry, keeping a record of what is there, and getting them out again when someone orders them. The building itself is a warehouse; warehousing is the whole activity around it. You will meet the word most often in business and shipping talk: a company may say "we handle warehousing and delivery", meaning they will hold your goods and then send them out. It covers more than just putting boxes somewhere. It usually includes counting stock, moving things in and out, and knowing where every item sits. Because of this, people often pair it with other business words: "warehousing costs", "warehousing and distribution", "warehousing services". The word is uncountable, so you say "warehousing is expensive", never "a warehousing" or "warehousings". It is also used more loosely, and sometimes coldly, about people — if a hospital or a school is said to be "warehousing" people, it means it is just keeping them in one place with no real care or teaching. That use is a criticism, and it works by making the people sound like boxes. There is also a computer use: "data warehousing" means storing a lot of company data in one big place so it can be studied later.