rubbernecking

rubber +‎ necking

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹʊbɚˌnɛkɪŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rub‧ber‧neck‧ing

rubbernecking (uncountable)

1. The act of slowing down whilst driving a vehicle, in order to see the scene of an accident.
   • 2004, Robert G. Ferrell, Tangent: A Novel‎, →ISBN, page 131:

     "The resulting wreckage blocks the entire southbound side of the Interstate, while the inevitable rubbernecking slows traffic on the northbound side to little more than the speed of a brisk walk."

2. Generally, any act of observation in a manner considered unduly overt or otherwise unseemly.

   The children had never been in such a large museum and their rubbernecking was rather amusing.

rubbernecking

1. present participle and gerund of rubberneck
   • 2006, Jack Myers, Row House Blues‎, →ISBN, page 339:

     "Kids all up and down the Triboro corridors are staring, I can sense it. Why are they rubbernecking, what are they staring at?"

• gapers' block
• gawkers' block