▪ I. sizing, vbl. n.1
(ˈsaɪzɪŋ)
[f. size v.1]
1. a. In University use: The action or practice of procuring ‘sizes’ from the buttery or kitchen; a portion or quantity so obtained; a size.
| 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 104 The Butler or Manciple of Trinitie Hall..trusted him for his commons and sizing. 1628 Shirley Witty Fair One iv. ii, I have had a head in most of the butteries of Cambridge, and it has been sconced to purpose. I know what belongs to sizing. 1661 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Size, In Cambridge they call it Sizing. 1736 in Athenæum (1906) 20 Jan. 76/2 Commons, 10 weeks, {pstlg}1 3s. 4d. Sizings, {pstlg}1 11s. 6d. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar Tongue, Sizings, Cambridge term for the college allowance from the buttery, called at Oxford battles. 1833 Pierce Hist. Harvard Univ. 219 We were allowed at dinner a cue of beer, which was a half-pint, and a sizing of bread. 1834 in Cottle Rem. Coleridge & Southey (1847) 304 What little suppers, or sizings, as they were called, have I enjoyed. 1852 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 3) 20 Two tables..which..go through a regular second course instead of the ‘sizings’. |
b. transf. A share or allowance.
| 1822 Byron Werner iv. i, As for merriment And sport,..our sizings were Even of the narrowest. 1885 Sat. Rev. 3 Jan. 1/1 There appears to have also been a..tendency..to stint the metropolitan counties of their sizings. |
† 2. = assizing vbl. n. Obs.—1
| c 1640 in Roxb. Ballads II. 181 A health unto the Baker that never was misled Nor yet put into the pillorie for sizing of his bread. |
3. The action of separating and arranging according to size; also, singling of plants.
| 1660 Sharrock Vegetables 119 It may be proper here to speak of weeding and sising. The latter operation is the plucking up roots or plants that are..offensive to others in the same beds, by reason of their nearness. 1710 J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, Sizing, is a curious way of Dressing the Tin Ore, after it comes from the Launder of the Stamping-mill; which is by sifting it thro' an Hair-Sieve. 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v. Size, In all regiments the sizing begins from flanks to centre [etc.]. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 425 A previous accurate sizing of the stuff to be treated is necessary. 1894 Daily News 30 Jan. 3/4 It is most especially in the inferior sizing or assorting of fruit that reform is needed. |
| attrib. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2192/1 Sizing-apparatus, -cistern. 1882 U.S. Rep. Prec. Met. 650 The ore is..carried..through the sizing-screens into a series of eighteen settling-tanks. 1884 Bath Herald 27 Dec. 6/5 The middlings..are carried now to the sizing machines. |
4. sizing up, the process of assessing or evaluating.
| 1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 136 No doubt he guessed I'd been doing a bit of sizing up and decided he had better help me get my ideas into order. |
▪ II. sizing, vbl. n.2
(ˈsaɪzɪŋ)
[f. size v.2]
1. The action of applying size, or of preparing in some way with size.
| 1635 Church-w. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 98 Item siseing and oyling of the new window, 8 d. a 1667 Petty in Sprat Hist. Royal Soc. (1667) 294 When we treat of Sising and Stiffening. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 715/1 The sizing of this paper must also be moderate. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 927 For printing paper, the sizing is given in the beating engine. 1883 Hardwich's Photogr. Chem. (ed. 9) 229 The Photographic properties of the paper are much affected by the mode of sizing adopted. |
2. Size prepared for use; also, the materials from which size is prepared.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 470 A strong lie of soft soap, called sizing. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Sizing, glutinous matter used by weavers to stiffen the warp, or to make it more smooth. 1878 Abney Photogr. (1881) 177 The sizing should be removed by immersion in boiling water. |
| fig. 1855 Bagehot Lit. Studies (1879) I. 289 No great painter of English life can be without a rough sizing of strong sense. |
3. attrib., as sizing-box, sizing-house, sizing-machine, etc.
| 1799 Hull Advertiser 1 June 1/1 Paper-mill..comprises..four vatts,..and sizing-house adjoining. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 370, I have since seen the sizing machine in action, dressing warp. 1880 J. Dunbar Pract. Papermaker 55 Strain through a fine wire into the sizing box. 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Africa 405 It has..been recommended as a sizing material for photographic prints. |
▪ III. sizing
yeast: see sizzing.