▪ I. lashing, vbl. n.1
(ˈlæʃɪŋ)
[f. lash v.1 + -ing1.]
a. The action of lash v.1 in various senses; beating, flogging; an instance of this. † lashing out, lavishing, squandering.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy. 6789 Mony lyue of lept with lasshyng of swerdis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 288/2 Laschynge, or betynge. 1553 N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 85 These lasshinges oute of money which bee done to clawe the multitude. 1651–3 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year (1678) 344 Those secret lashings and whips of the exterminating Angel. 1791 Burke Th. Fr. Affairs Wks. (1808) VII. 41 The king [of Sweden]..keeps up the top with continual agitation and lashing. 1801 T. Milner in Life xiii. (1842) 246 He said some things which..called for a fresh lashing. 1900 Daily News 19 Feb. 2/5 As a rule the natives took their lashings quietly. |
b. pl. (orig. Anglo-Irish). ‘Floods’, abundance.
| 1829 Scott Jrnl. 18 Mar., Cigars in loads, whisky in lashings. 1841 S. C. Hall Ireland (1843) III. 334 There's lashins of holy water, and blessed palm. 1856 Lever Martins of Cro'M. 84 A good dinner, some excellent port wine, and ‘lashings’ of whiskey-punch. 1883 Ld. Saltoun Scraps I. 116 There's plenty of sport to be had, an' lashins of parties, an' balls, an' picnics. 1884 Illustr. Lond. News 24 May 510/3 ‘There's lashins of room’, said the driver. 1901 E. W. Hornung Black Mask v. 74 There were lashings of sound wine for one and all. 1927 D. L. Sayers Unnatural Death xxiii. 278 Nice little dinner—lashings of champagne. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 30 We fought through lashings of rain and mud to our billets. 1962 J. Wain Strike Father Dead 164 Real comfort. And plenty of money. Lashings! She earned a good solid packet at this job. 1966 Lancet 2 Apr. 765/1 The crusty wholemeal bread..eaten with lashings of butter. 1975 Country Life 6 Feb. 336/3 Chicory..requires lashings of water. |
Senses a, b in Dict. become 1a, 2. Add: [1.] b. spec. in S. Afr. Mining. The action of shovelling broken ore, rock, etc., and loading it into a truck (from sense *3 b of the vb.).
| 1932 Watermeyer & Hoffenberg Witwatersrand Mining Pract. vi. 347 Lashing or shovelling. Except where advantage can be taken of the angle at which an end dips, all the ore is usually loaded into trucks by shovel. 1946 C. B. Jeppe Gold Mining on Witwatersrand i. ix. 688 Such cleaning out was largely done on night shift, some 4 to 6 natives being allocated to each end for lashing and tramming, depending on the distance to be trammed and the supply of cars. 1974 S. Afr. Jrnl. Econ. XLII. 293 The National Institute for Personnel Research has also demonstrated that even on a simple manual task like lashing (shovelling or loading broken rock) output can be appreciably increased by continuous practice. |
▪ II. lashing, vbl. n.2 Chiefly Naut.
(ˈlæʃɪŋ)
[f. lash v.2 + -ing1.]
The action of lash v.2; the action of fastening any movable body with a cord. Hence concr. the cord used for this purpose.
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 20 Loose the Lachings, we will sheer off our Ship. 1729 Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 20 Oct., At 8 cast off our Lashings and made Sail. 1758 J. Blake Plan Mar. Syst. 6 A hammock, with a lashing, shall be delivered him, and a birth assigned to hang it in. 1789 G. Keate Pelew Isl. 4 In the afternoon the lashings of the booms broke. 1834–47 J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1851) 139 The..side rails are secured with rack lashings to the extreme balks. 1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 220 It was impossible to stand at the helm without the assistance of lashings. 1869 Troyte Change Ringing 5 It is well to keep lashings ready for all the bells in a tower. 1872–6 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict., Lashings used in mounting and dismounting guns are of different dimensions. |
| Comb. 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 19 Lashing Rope. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Lashing-eyes, fittings for lower stays, block-strops, &c., by loops made in the ends of ropes, for a lashing to be rove through to secure them. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech., Suppl., Lashing knot, A form of bend. |
▪ III. lashing, ppl. a.
(ˈlæʃɪŋ)
[f. lash v.1 + -ing2.]
That lashes.
| 14.. Siege Jerusalem 17/304 Was noȝt bot..red laschyng lye [i.e. flame] alle þe londe ouer. c 1645 Howell Lett. i. 2 Under a learned (though lashing) Master. 1693 Dryden Juvenal i. (1697) 11 The Lady, next, requires a lashing Line, Who squeez'd a Toad into her Husband's Wine. 1714 Gay Trivia ii. 231 The lashing whip resounds. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. lxxv, Bounds with one lashing spring the mighty brute. 1820 Shelley Cloud 9, I wield the flail of the lashing hail. 1827–44 Willis Elms New Haven 129 The air Below the lashing tree-tops was all black. 1885 Stevenson Dynamiter 198 A certain day of lashing rain in December. 1900 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 379 This lashing sarcasm was undeserved. |
Hence ˈlashingly adv., in a lashing manner; † (a) lavishly; (b) by means of the lash or whip.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. ix. (1878) 17 To lash not out too lashinglie, for feare of pinching penurie. 1839 New Monthly Mag. LVI. 358 Tripes bawled out, ‘Wo-ho!’—a sound Woodpecker and old Peter willingly obeyed, in spite of Dick's persuasions lashingly applied. |