▪ I. bothering, vbl. n.
(ˈbɒðərɪŋ)
[f. bother v.]
† a. (?) Palavering, ‘humbugging’. Obs. rare. b. Giving or taking trouble, worrying, perplexing.
| 1803 Bristed Pedest. Tour I. 76 The art and mystery of bothering, whose chief efficacy resides in a facility of talking an infinite deal of nothing with readiness and volubility. 1806 W. Taylor Month. Mag. XXII. 536 It [ambiguity] is a learned word for what the English call bothering, which is derived from both. 1884 E. Gurney in Mind Jan. 120 Any sort of argument or bothering. |
▪ II. ˈbothering, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
Troubling, annoying, worrying.
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 122 The bothering bustle of the wind. 1875 M. Pattison Casaubon 103 Trifling talk, but very bothering. |