gathering

▪ I. ˈgathering, vbl. n.
    [f. as prec. + -ing¹.]
    1. a. The action of the verb gather, in various transitive senses. Also with in, out, up.

c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 312 For þære ripunge oððe for þære gaderunge. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxxiii. (1495) 647 Bein that gadre hony visyte and haunte floures by cause of gadrynge of hony. 1488–9 Act 4 Hen. VII, c. 5 Abbottes..quyte and discharged of gadryng of dysmes. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. vii. §2 The gathering of principles out of..particular experiments. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 242 [He] was much delighted in the gathering of antiquities. 1691 Sir W. Hope Fencing Master (1692) 99 Of raising or Gathering up of your Adversaries sword. 1705 Stanhope Paraph. II. 359 By this..we become capable of diffusing the Riches of that Knowledge in a Moment, the gathering whereof may have cost us the pains and study of many Years. 1842 Manning Serm. xix. (1848) I. 274 In these words He foretells the gathering out and knitting together of His mystical body, which is the Church. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. xv. 312 Nothing will make dispensable the wide gathering-in of evidence.

    † b. The action or practice of collecting wealth; miserly acquisition of money. Obs.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 286 Aȝeines ȝiscunge. Ich wolde þet oðre schuneden, ase ȝe doð, gederunge. 1340 Ayenb. 192 Elmesse þet is y-do of þyefþe..oþer of oþre kueade gaderinge, hit ne likeþ noþing god. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5782 [Thre] gret mischeves hem assailith, And thus in gadring ay travaylith. 1550 Crowley Last Trump. 252 Though the Lord geue the plentye..Be thou neuer the more gredy, Nor set thy mynd on gatheringe.

    c. The action of drawing in or contracting; also, the result of this (see gather v. 11 b, 11 c, 16 b); spec. in Building (see quot. 1851).

1580 Lyly Euphues To Ladies Engl. (Arb.) 222 If a Tailour make your gowne too little, you couer his fault with a broad stomacher..if too long, with a false gathering. 1611 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 92 That none should wear..any ruff exceeding 4 yards in length before the gathering or setting in thereof. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 107 An apt falling-back of the Back, and convenient gathering of the Wings, and Brest of the Chimney. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 308 Gathering keeps the crown and furrows of the ridge in the same place in which they were before. 1807 Sir R. C. Hoare Tour Irel. 198 The weight of this new building, pressed upon the gathering of the arches. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 585 Gathering of the wings, in a chimney. 1846 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. i. 57, I would soon endeavour to make the present heading or gathering as good, by deep ploughing and the application of manure. Ibid., On these high-back lands..the gathering up, or centre of each land..has become dead, inert clay. 1851 Dict. Archit. s.v., Where the fireplace in one story is directly over another, and the flues go up in the jambs, the brickwork which oversails and forms the soffite of the with of the flue is called the gathering. Hence the term is loosely applied instead of gathering of the wings or gathering wings, to that part of a chimney funnel which is built inclined over the fireplace, so as to contract the sides to a union with the throat of the flue. 1880 Plain Hints 18 The depth of the material under the band above the gathering.

    d. in (or a) gathering = being gathered. Also with omission of the preposition.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 11735 While this gode was in gederyng the grettes among. 1625 Ussher Answ. Jesuit 194 Yet were there certain sticks then agathering. 1693 Sir T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 54 The Cloves are gathering from September unto the End of February.

    2. The action of coming together, uniting or combining; the result of this; union, accumulation. (In early instances also with ᵹe-.)

c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xvi. [xxvii.] (1890) 82 Forðon ᵹedafenað, þætte seo ælice ᵹegadrung lichoman seo for intingan tudres. c 1230 Hali Meid. 3 Þi folc he clepeð dauid þe gederunge inwið þe of fleschliche þohtes. Ibid. 27 Of wif & weres gederinge weorldes wele awakeneð. 1382 Wyclif Gen. i. 10 The gaderyngis of watris he clepide, sees. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xviii. (1495) 123 In the chynne of a beest is the moust strength of hardnes of the boon and harde gaderynge of synewes. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) Ep. Rdr. 9 Ye gathering of many mens wittes into one mans head. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 43 The gathering of this storm, which..began to threaten all Germany..determined me. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 47/2 To prevent the gathering of Dirt and Seeds, which might make Weeds grow in the Wall. 1870 L'Estrange Miss Mitford I. vi. 168 But all this was but the gathering of the wind before a storm.

    3. spec. An accumulation of purulent matter in any part of the body; a suppurated swelling.

c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 300 Wið cyrnlu & wið ealle yfele ᵹegaderunga, ᵹenim [etc.]. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety v. 105 No less happy than..the ease of a broken Imposthume, after the painful gathering and filling of it. 1753 J. Bartlet Gentleman's Farriery xxxii. 263 If a gathering forms on the opposite side, open it in the same manner. 1763 Mrs. Harris in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury I. 102 Some say Mr. Wilkes is very well, others say they apprehend a gathering in his side. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. i. i. 3 I've a gathering come on my thimble finger. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss. s.v. Gether, An abscess is called a getherin.

    4. a. A bringing together or coming together of people; an assembly or meeting. (In early examples also with prefixed ᵹe-, i-.) spec. An assembly organized annually in various parts of the Scottish Highlands for contests in athletics, dancing, piping, etc.; = game n. 4 d.

c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John v. 13 Se hælynd soþlice beah fram þære ᵹegaderunge. c 1100 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 326/7 Aecclesia, cyrce, oððe ᵹeleafful gaderung. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1137 Þa þe king Stephne to Engla lande com, þa macod he his gadering at Oxeneford. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 89 Þe apostles speken to þes folkes igederunge. a 1300 Cursor M. 10703 Bot þar was nan at þat gedring, þat cuthe giue consail o þat thing. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 389 He maid a gaddering preuely Of thame that war of his party. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2922 Wemen..shunt not for shame to shake ouer lande, To glogh vppon gomes at gedering of folke. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 141 Dyvers conventicles and gatheryngs were made of the Citizens and other, that robbed in the Citie and did much harme. 1611 Bible Ecclus. xxvi. 5 The gathering together of an vnruly multitude. 1828 Edin. Evening Courant 16 Aug., The Athole Gathering or Highland Meeting was held..on Wednesday the 6th instant. 1828–40 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 259 note, Winton is in an error in making this gathering of the states in 1285. 1850 Queen Victoria Jrnl. 12 Sept. (1868) 123 We..went..to the Gathering at the Castle of Braemar. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xii. 86 It was not the goodness of the conversation..which gave the charm to our gatherings. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §4. 191 In their beginnings our boroughs seem to have been mainly gatherings of persons engaged in agricultural pursuits. 1947 Duke of Hamilton in H. W. Meikle Scotland xxxi. 244 Of the greater ‘gatherings’ the northern meeting at Inverness, the Braemar Gathering on Deeside, and the Oban Games are the outstanding examples. 1969 M. Pugh Last Place Left xvi. 113 Always wanted to see a Gathering through local eyes.

    b. A signal (by beat of drum, sound of pipes, etc.) for assembling.

1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xlix, Immediately after the soldiers had done with eating and drinking..a gathering should be beaten for bringing them altogether. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xvii, The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear. 1847 J. Wilson Recr. Chr. North (1857) I. 167 Some old soldier, probably, playing a gathering or a coronach.

    5. That which is gathered or brought together: esp. (a) a collection in money (now dial.); † (b) a conclusion or inference; † (c) a compilation (of literary matter).

c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 3339 To gadrie þat gold þay dude hure miȝt..On þe gadryngge þat þay made; þan þay by-gunne to fiȝte. c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 39 We shall bere thedir..[a] collecte or gaderyng maade amongse vs offerynge yt to that chirche yn mynde of oure delyueraunce. 1508 Pilton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 54 Item receved of the parish gathering for the coueryng of the rode loȝffte viijs. ij{supd}. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 191 b, For this colleccyon or gatheryng of the artycles of fayth..is the instruccyon of the faythfull people. 1552 Latimer Serm. Lord's Prayer vi. Wks. II. 91 Which you may perceive partly by that I have said, and partly by gatherings and conjectures. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 97 For setting and planting of Cheryes, you may read a great sorte of rules in the gatheringes of Constantine. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 314 His gathering is altogether fond & ridiculous. 1611 Bible 2 Macc. xii. 43 When he had made a gathering throughout the company, to the sum of two thousand drachmes of siluer. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 44 ¶4 The Company here..had made a Gathering to purchase the Moveables of the neighbouring Play-house. 1751 R. Paltock Peter Wilkins (1884) I. 124 Some few new sorts of berries and greens were the gathering of that day. 1879 Athenæum 5 Apr. 445 This gathering [an exhibition of pictures] is, as a whole, by no means equal to some of its predecessors. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss., Getherin, a collection. The word is becoming obsolete.

    6. Bookbinding: a. The arrangement of the loose sheets of a book in proper order; b. A certain number of leaves placed one inside another, making up a group or quire.

1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc. II. 348 Gathering of Books is to take one Sheet off every Heap, beginning at the last Heap first. 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. II. xvi. 568 The collater cannot be too attentive in observing whether the gathering be true. 1844 Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. App. 331 The last folio in the seventh gathering. 1893 J. H. Bernard in Trans. R. Irish Acad. XXX. 308 The gatherings in the original binding do not seem to have been made up uniformly of the same number of leaves.

    7. Glass-making. = gather n.¹ 3 b.

1908 W. Rosenhain Glass Manuf. vi. 88 The introduction of the gathering into the molten glass is each time liable to produce air bells which would spoil the whole mass of glass. 1925 Hodkin & Cousen Textbk. Glass Technol. xxxi. 403 It is not necessary to blow down the pipe, when this method is used, before the gathering is brought from the furnace.

    8. attrib. and Comb., as gathering-place, gathering-season, gathering-time; also gathering-board Bookbinding (see quot.); gathering-coal, a large piece of coal, laid on the fire to keep it burning during the night; gathering-cry, a summons to assemble for war; gathering-ground, region from which the feeding waters of a river or a reservoir are collected; gathering-hoop (see quot.); gathering-iron Glass-blowing, the iron tube used in ‘gathering’ (see gather v. 13 a); gathering-pallet (or piece) (see quots.); gathering-peat (see quots.); gathering-rod = gathering-iron; gathering-sound, a signal for assembling; gathering-table (see quot.); gathering-thread, the thread used in making gathers in a dress, etc.

1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Gathering-board, a horseshoe-shaped table on which signatures are laid to be gathered or assembled to form a book.

1808 Bald Coal Trade Scotl. iv. 60 Another demand for large blocks of coals is, for the servants to make what is termed *gathering-coals in the kitchen. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxvi, The matron of the family, having laid the gathering-coal upon the fire..retired to rest the last of the family. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Getherin coal.

1817 Campbell Reullura 86 And no *gathering-cry rose yet O'er the isles of Albyn's sea. 1851 M. A. Denham Slogans N. Eng. 11 The Slogan, or Gathering-cry of the clan Fenwick was never heard in vain.

1877 A. H. Green Phys. Geol. iii. §2. 106 The table⁓land on which snow accumulates is called the *gathering-ground. 1895 E. A. Parkes Health 19 Dublin is supplied with water from gathering-grounds and a large ‘impounding reservoir’.

1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Gathering-hoop, one used by coopers to draw in the ends of the staves so as to allow the hoop to be slipped thereon.

1883 H. J. Powell Princ. Glass-making iii. 12 A part of the bulb remote from the *gathering-iron.

1850 E. B. Denison Clock & Watch Making §90 At every stroke of the hammer, it [a pinion] takes up the teeth of the rack one after another, and it is therefore called the *gathering piece or pallet. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm., Gathering Pallet, a revolving finger that in striking clocks and repeating watches moves the rack one tooth for each blow struck.

1825–80 Jamieson, *Gathering-peat, a fiery peat which was sent round by the borderers, to alarm the country in time of danger. 1882 Ogilvie, Gathering-peat, a peat put into the kitchen-fire at night..to preserve the fire till the morning.

1820 W. Irving Sketch-Bk. (1859) 42 In England..the metropolis is a mere *gathering-place, or general rendezvous of the polite classes.

1883 H. J. Powell Princ. Glass-making iii. 12 If the *gathering rod be hollow.

1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 289 The provident prudent Bee, finding a likely decay of the *gathering season, and observing that the Drones are only spenders..doe at last violently expell them.

1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. i, Clamorous war-pipes yelled the *gathering sound.

1841 Savage Dict. Print., *Gathering table, a table..on which the printed sheets are arranged in the order of their signatures, in order to their being gathered into books.

1882 Caulfield & Saward Dict. Needlework s.v. Gathering, Care should be taken to conceal the *gathering thread.

1532 Huloet, *Gatherynge tyme or season when rype fruite is gathered, vindemia.

▪ II. ˈgathering, ppl. a.
    [f. gather v. + -ing².]
    1. That gathers, brings together, or accumulates.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 128 Þus beoð þe gederinde ancren of god iþe gospelle to uoxes iefned.

    2. That gathers or comes together in a mass; that contracts or draws together.

1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ix. 88 Or if e'er Night the gath'ring Clouds we fear, A Song will help the beating Storm to bear. 1703 Rowe Ulyss. ii. i. 821 Dost thou dread the gath'ring Storm That grumbles in the Air. 1851 [see gathering vbl. n. 1 c]. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola ii. xxii, The soldiers found themselves escorted by a gathering troop of men and boys. 1872 W. Black Adv. Phaeton xxx, We drive on in the gathering twilight.

Oxford English Dictionary