fining, vbl. n.
(ˈfaɪnɪŋ)
[f. fine v.3 + -ing1.]
The action of the vb. fine.
1. The operation or process of refining (metals); esp. that of converting cast iron into wrought iron by heating it in contact with charcoal and so removing the carbon.
| 1502 Priv. Purse Exp. Eliz. of York (1830) 38 Certain personnes..that wrought in fynyng of iron. 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 366 The fining of gold in the furnace. 1864 Percy Iron & Steel 579 It seems somewhat absurd to designate the process of incomplete decarburization as refining, and that of..complete decarburization as only fining. Ibid., I..apply the word fining to the operation of converting cast into malleable iron..in a hearth or open fire urged by a blast of air with charcoal as the fuel. |
2. The operation or process of clarifying (a liquid;
esp. beer, wine, etc.). Also the process by which a liquid becomes fine or clear.
| 1607 Dekker Wh. Babylon Wks. 1873 II. 215 No Vines could please our taste, But of her fining. 1683 Lond. Gaz. No 1862/8 New Experiments, for Fyning and Improving of Syder. 1707 Mortimer Husb. xvi. 339 It [Beech] is good also for Fuel..not to omit the Shavings of it for the fining of Wine. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. I. 137 The operation of fining will be unnecessary to such beer. 1864 Reader 9 Jan. 53 To investigate the cause of this fining of the blood. |
b. concr. Anything used for this purpose. Usu.
pl.| 1772 Jackson in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 5 One ounce and a half of good isinglass..was converted into good fining. 1822 J. Imison Sc. & Art II. 160 A preparation of isinglass and sour beer, called finings, is put into it. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 184 The coffee is made of a dark colour by means of what are called ‘finings’ which consist of burnt sugar. 1885 Act 48 –9 Vict. c. 50 §8 Finings for the purpose of clarification [of beer]. |
3. Comb.:
fining-forge (see
quot.);
fining-pot, a crucible in which metals are refined;
fining-roller (see
quot.).
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 848/2 *Fining-forge..an open hearth with a blast by which iron is freed of impurities or foreign matters. |
| 1611 Bible Prov. xvii. 3 The *fining pot is for siluer, and the furnace for gold. 1879 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 134 Let us throw them boldly into the fining-pot. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 848/2 *Fining-roller (Paper-making), a cylindrical wire-cloth sieve in the paper-making machine, which allows the finely ground stuff to pass, but restrains the coarse fibers and knots. |