▪ I. fog, n.1
(fɒg)
Also 4, 6–7, 9 fogg(e, 6 Sc. foge, 7, 9 feg, 8 Sc. fouge, fug.
[of unknown origin; the Welsh ffwg ‘dry grass’ (O. Pughe), often given as the source, is from Eng.]
1. a. The grass which springs up immediately after the hay-crop has been taken off, aftermath. b. The long grass left standing in the fields during winter; rank grass. (to leave) under fog: with the long grass standing.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1683 He fares forth on alle faure, fogge watz his mete. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 2865 And fille oure somers withe fog and haye. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxi. 34 Great court horss puttis me fra the staw, To fang the fog be firthe and fald. 1570 Levins Manip. 157 Fogge, postfœnium. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 130 I haue knowne the fogge of this close letten from Michael⁓masse till Lady-day for 33s. 4d. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iii. (1677) 40 These Partridges..do lodge in the dead Grass or Fog under Hedges. 1789 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts VII. 39 The fog, or after-grass, was ploughed in. 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 226 The last year's fog is pared down as close and even as possible. 1834 Brit. Husb. I. 484 The precaution of leaving a portion under fog forms a sure resource against a scarcity of summer feed. 1876 World V. No. 115. 13 To be let, the eatage of fog on thirteen acres of old grass⁓land. |
† c. ? A growth of this grass.
Obs.—1| 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 158 They..make their nests in foggs. |
d. ? A tangled mass.
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. x, Where a fog was of rushes, and floodwood, and wild celery-haulm. |
2. Sc. and
north. = moss.
| c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 9 It was a sober wane, Of foge and farne full febillie way made. 1494 in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. I. 249 Item gyffyne for fog to the barge iijs. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 66 Between hands..we'll..sport upon the velvet fog. 1750 in Ramsay Sc. Prov. 12 A rowing stane gathers nae fog. 1788 E. Picken Elegy on Yon Place Poems 181 Green fug, mantlan' owre the sclates, Held out the air. 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 458 Lime is the mortal enemy of all sorts of fog or moss. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. 261 The term ‘fog’ comprehends many species of Hypna. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
fog grass,
fog-harrow,
fog-land,
fog-moss. Also,
fog-cheese = eddish-cheese;
fog-earth, peat;
fog-fruit (see
quot.);
fog-house (see
quot.).
| 1822 Nares, *Fog-cheeses in Yorkshire, are such as are made from this latter grass. |
| 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., *Fog-earth, peat, bog-earth. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot., *Fog-fruit, an American name for Lippia nodiflora. |
| 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., *Fog-grass, coarse sedgy grass, such as grows in wet places. |
| 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., *Fog-harrow, a harrow to clear moss away. |
| 1842 C. W. Johnson Farmer's Encycl. 494 A *fog-house means a house built or lined with moss. |
| 1829 J. Hodgson in J. Raine Mem. (1858) II. 158 The corn and *foglands. |
| 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 257 Yellowish, or *fogg-moss, is much less compact than [black moss]. |
▪ II. fog, n.2 (
fɒg)
Also 6–7
fogge.
[prob. a back-formation from foggy a.] † I. 1. Flabby substance (in the body), unwholesome fat; ‘waste flesh’ (
cf. quot. from Palsgrave
s.v. foggy 3).
Obs. [
Cf. foggy a. 3.]
| 1586 Bright Melanch. xxi. 124 In stead of firme substance the bodie is ouercharged with a counterfette kind of fatte, and hydropical fogge, which beareth shewe of good habite. |
II. [
Cf. foggy a. 4.]
2. a. Thick mist or watery vapour suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface; an obscured condition of the atmosphere due to the presence of dense vapour.
| 1544 Late Exped. Scotl. C iij a, The sonne brake out, the fogge went awaye. 1578 T. Ellis in Hakluyt Voy. III. 41 A hidious fogge and mist, that continued till the nineteenth. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 357 The starrie Welkin couer thou anon With drooping fogge as blacke as Acheron. 1634 Milton Comus 433 No evil thing that walks by night, In fog, or fire. 1670 Evelyn Diary 15 Dec., The thickest and darkest fogg on the Thames that was ever known. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 49 ¶8 Hills obscured by fogs. 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. iii. 28 A dense fog hung so low that there was no use in keeping watch. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. x. 66 His guides had lost their way in the fog. 1887 J. Ashby-Sterry Lazy Minstr. (1892) 141 'Tis sometimes yellow, sometimes brown, A London Fog! |
b. fig. in a fog: at a loss to know what to do.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. i. Wks. 1856 I. 105 Stoop and beat downe this rising fog of shame. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. To Rdr., The thicke fogges and mists of ignorance. 1792 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ode to Ld. Lonsdale Wks. 1812 III. 45 The people's brains are losing their old fogs. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 326 Our sculptors are still blinded by the pseudo-Greek fog. 1888 M. Robertson Lombard St. Myst. xxii, I confess that, until it came to light, I was in a fog. |
3. transf. a. Any abnormal darkened state of the atmosphere.
b. Any substance diffused through the atmosphere, so as to cause darkness; a dark mass (of smoke). Also
slang = smoke.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 48 Ignorance, in which thou art more puzel'd then the ægyptians in their fogge. 1699 Garth Dispens. iii. 30 Smouldring Fogs of smoke benight the Fire. c 1700 Street Robberies Consider'd, Fog, smoke. 1854 Kelly & Tomlinson tr. Arago's Astron. (ed. 5) 133 The fog of 1783..extended from the north of Africa to Sweden..It rose above the loftiest mountains. |
4. Photogr. A cloud or coating obscuring a developed plate.
| 1858 Sutton Dict. Photogr. s.v., A frequent cause of fog is [etc.]. 1873 Spon Workshop Rec. i. 254 A deposit of red fog will take place. |
5. Short for
fog-signal 2.
| 1883 F. S. Williams Our Iron Roads ix. (ed. 4) 295 As long as the distance-signal stands at ‘danger’ he is to keep two ‘fogs’ on the rail. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. attrib., as
fog-cloud,
fog-land,
fog-smoke.
| 1846 Whittier Exiles lii, No *fog-cloud veiled the deep. |
| 1886 Gentl. Mag. Apr. 411 We..step into the luminous *fog⁓land of poetry. |
| 1808 Scott Marm. ii. Introd. ix, Rises the *fog-smoke white as snow. |
b. esp. in the names of instruments used for giving warning in foggy weather, as
fog-alarm,
fog-bell,
fog-detonator,
fog-gong,
fog-gun,
fog-horn,
fog-lamp,
fog-light,
fog-trumpet,
fog-whistle. Also
fog-signal.
| 1841 Longfellow Wreck Hesp., 'Tis a *fog-bell on a rock⁓bound coast. |
| 1892 Pall Mall G. 17 Oct. 4/3 The cap of a *fog-detonator. |
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 32 A..Bell Metal Chinese *Fog Gong. |
| 1858 in Merc. Marine Mag. V. 363 A gong and *fog-horn is..sounded in foggy weather. |
| 1937 Times 13 Apr. p. xxii/4 In contributing to safety on the road by day or night, the makers of direction indicators and *fog and anti-dazzle lamps have played a notable part. |
| 1859 First Impressions New World i. 3 We had a good deal of fog when off Newfoundland, which obliged us to use the *fog-whistle frequently. |
c. instrumental and originative, as
fog-born,
fog-bound,
fog-bred,
fog-hidden,
fog-ridden,
adjs.| 1818 Keats Endymion ii. 278 The *fog-born elf. |
| 1855 Clarke Dict., *Fog-bound, detained by fog. |
| 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. i. iii, This *fog-bred mushroom-spawn of brain⁓sick wits. |
| 1893 Catholic News 21 Jan. 5/1 That *fog-hidden day. |
| 1887 All Year Round 26 Feb. 135 Our chilly *fog⁓ridden towns. |
d. Special comb.:
fog-bow, a phenomenon similar to the rainbow, produced by the action of light on the particles of fog;
fog-buoy (see
quots.);
fog-circle = fog-bow;
fog-dog (see
dog n.1 10);
fog-drift, a drifting mass of fog;
fog-eater (see
quot.);
fog-horn v. intr., to speak with a loud, penetrating voice;
fog-logged a., stopped by fog;
fog-man = fogger3;
† fog-pate, a stupid muddle-headed person;
fog-ring (see
quot.).
| 1831 Brewster Optics xxxii. 268 A *fog-bow, which resembled a nebulous arch, in which the colours were invisible. |
| 1899 F. T. Bullen Way Navy 31 A *fog-buoy—a barrel towed at the end of a rope at the distance each ship should keep astern of the other. 1939 War Illustr. 29 Dec. 532/2 In foggy weather..every ship tows from the stern on the end of a long line a brightly-painted wooden cask, which is known as a fog-buoy. |
| 1890 E. Gosse Life P. H. Gosse 62 The rare Arctic appearance known as the fog-bow, or *fog-circle. |
| 1853 Ecclesiologist XIV. 390 *Fog-drifts drove rapidly over the bleak crags. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Fog-eater, a synonym of *fog-dog and fog-bow. |
| 1923 A. Huxley Antic Hay i. 4 The Reverend Pelvey, M.A., *foghorning away from behind the imperial bird. |
| 1846 P. Parley's Ann. VII. 5 The Prince Regent..proceeding towards Hatfield got *‘fog-logged’, as it was called, and could not proceed. |
| 1883 F. S. Williams Our Iron Roads ix. (ed. 4) 294 In that cottage lives a *‘fog⁓man’ and he was wanted for his duties. |
| 1732 Hyp-Doctor 2 May 1/1 Reasoning with these eternal *Fog-pates. |
| 1852 Brande Suppl., *Fog-rings, banks of fog arranged in a circular or ring form. |
▪ III. † fog, a. Obs. rare.
[Shortened from foggy a.] Gross, bloated.
Cf. foggy a.
3| 1583 Stanyhurst Aeneis iii. (Arb.) 92 Polyphem..A fowle fog monster. |
▪ IV. fog, v.1 (
fɒg)
[f. fog n.1] 1. intr. To become overgrown with moss.
Sc.| 1715 Pennecuik Tweeddale 31 About this town [Peebles]..fruit and forest trees..are seldom seen either to fog or be bark-bound. 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 525 The hedges fog at the stem. 1810 G. Chalmers Caledonia II. iii. 204 St. Bothan's well..neither fogs nor freezes. |
2. Agric. (
trans.)
a. To leave land ‘under fog’: see
fog n.1 1 and
fogging vbl. n. b. To feed (cattle) on fog.
| 1814 Davies Agric. S. Wales I. 545 We saw a piece that had been fogged successively during sixteen years, and..was improving annually. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss. s.v., When farmers take the cattle out of their pastures in autumn; they say ‘they are boun to fog them’. 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Fog, in agriculture, to feed off the fog or pasture in winter, as cattle. 1893 Wilts Gloss., Fog, to give fodder to cattle. |
▪ V. fog, v.2 (
fɒg)
[f. fog n.2 Cf. befog.] 1. trans. To envelope with or as with fog; to stifle with fog. Also
fig.| 1599 Soliman & P. i. C ij, Fog not thy glory with so fowle eclipse. 1601 Bp. Barlow Defence 19 Somtimes by clouds it [the sun] is enueloped, and by mists fogged. a 1684 Leighton Comm. 1st Pet. i. 10–12 That the light of divine truth may..not be fogged and misted with filthy vapours. 1811 Byron Let. to Mrs. Byron 14 Jan., I might have stayed, smoked in your towns, or fogged in your country, a century. 1881 W. C. Russell Ocean Free Lance I. vi. 296 The hurricanes which..fogged her decks with flying spume. |
2. fig. To put (a person) in a ‘fog’; to bewilder utterly, mystify, perplex; to render (ideas, etc.) misty or confused.
| 1818 Keats Lett. Wks. 1889 III. 124, I must fog your memories about them [viz. books he had borrowed]. 1888 Illustr. Lond. News Xmas No. 11/1 These folks fog me..I can't talk their lingo. 1890 B. Sharpe in Nature 30 Oct. 634 To merge many species under the genus Picus tends to fog and confuse the ideas of geographical distribution. |
3. intr. a. To become covered or filled with fog. (In
mod. Dicts.)
b. to fog off: to perish from damp, to damp off.
| 1849 Florist Aug. 221 Watch carefully that decayed leaves do not cause the cuttings to fog off. 1880 N. & Q. 20 Nov. 406 A gardener speaks of his cuttings from bedding plants which have not taken root as having ‘fogged off’. |
4. Photogr. (
trans.) To cloud or cover with an obscuring coating. Also
to fog over.
| 1854 Jrnl. Photogr. Soc. 21 Jan. 163/2 The relative values of acid or alkaline baths with respect to ‘fogging over’ the impressions taken on collodion. 1865 Reader No. 116. 320/1 The negative was slightly fogged. 1893 Sir R. Ball Story of Sun 210 The flash of sunlight fogged the plate. |
5. Railway slang. (
intr.) To place fog-signals on the line in foggy weather.
| 1886 Lloyd's Weekly 26 Dec. 1/5 Engaged in the duty of ‘fogging’. 1891 Star 21 Feb. 3/1 While he was fogging on the south side of Charing-cross-bridge. |
Hence
fogged ppl. a.;
ˈfogging ppl. a.| 1617 Hieron Wks. (1619–20) II. 191 In some sicknesses, you shall see a man forget himselfe a little by some fogging sleepe. 1661 Feltham Resolves ii. Lusoria xxviii, The Sun, before man's damning Fall Threw a fogg'd guilt upon this All. 1849 Florist Dec. 321 To remove any fogged foliage. 1886 Stevenson Dr. Jekyll 20 Under the face of the fogged city moon. 1890 Woodbury Encycl. Photogr. 300 Fogged plates will be produced if [etc.]. |
Add:
[1.] b. To cause (a window-pane, mirror, etc.) to be covered or rendered opaque by condensed water vapour; to steam
up.
Cf. defogger n.| 1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 227 He crossed the gap..and entered the kitchen, the lamplit warmth where the stove glowed, fogging the windows. 1966 A. Higgins Langrishe, go Down xxxiii. 244 Hot steam drifted about her, fogging up the window. 1979 A. Brink Dry White Season ii. v. 129 You press your face against the smooth, cold surface of the mirror, until it's fogged up. 1980 B. Plain Random Winds viii. 113 Water rushed in the bathroom shower, fogging the mirror on the open door so that she saw herself in a blur. |
[3.] c. Of a window, etc.: to become covered with condensed water vapour; to steam or mist
up.
| 1975 T. O'Brien Northern Lights (1976) ii. 187 When his glasses fogged he did not bother to wipe them. 1978 ― Going after Cacciato xliii. 292 The window fogs up. 1983 G. Benford Against Infinity vi. iii. 202 By..sweating so..his faceplate fogged and he couldn't read the angle and pressure settings. |
▪ VI. † fog, v.3 Obs. rare.
[? Back formation from fogger1.] intr. To act in a ‘pettifogging’ manner; to adopt underhand or unworthy means to secure gain. Hence
ˈfogging ppl. a.| 1588 M. Kyffin Terence's Andria v. iv, Hah fogging knaue. 1628 R. S. Counter Scuffle lxix, Wert not for vs, thou Swad, quoth hee, Where would'st thou fog to get a fee? 1641 Milton Reform. ii. (1851) 65 The fogging proctorage of money. |