▪ I. streaming, vbl. n.
(ˈstriːmɪŋ)
[f. stream v. + -ing1.]
a. The action of the verb in various senses; an instance of this.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xxviii. (1495) x vj, Arystotle sayth that lyghte is noo body, nother stremynge oute of a body. 1607 Hieron Wks. (1614) I. 206 In a conuenient season, the veines of the earth are opened, and the dryed spring returneth to his former streaming. 1624 Gee Foot out of Snare xv. 97 This streaming of my pen from the fountaine of my heart. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Armour i. 45 The streamings forth of divine grace. a 1716 South Serm. (1842) III. 601 We should deal with these first streamings out of sin, as the Psalmist would have the people of God deal with the brats of Babylon. 1887 Besant The World went xv. II. 24 The women..who can afford it have ribbons round their hats, the streaming of which in the breeze greatly gratifies them. |
† b. The Aurora Borealis. Obs. Cf. streamer n. 3 d.
| 1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 214 Nor should I much doubt to affirm, that it [this light] is that which is sometimes seen in England, and especially in the Northern parts, call'd Streaming. 1727 Derham Lumen Boreale in Phil. Trans. XXXIV. 245 There are two sorts of Streamings,..one, by way of Explosion from the Horizon; the other, by opening and shutting, [etc.]. |
c. Her. (See quot.)
| 1725 J. Coats Dict. Her. (1739) 319 Streaming is the Term us'd to express the Stream of Light darting from a Comet, or Blazing Star, vulgarly call'd the Beard. |
d. Mining. The washing of ore (usually tin-ore) from the detritus with which it is associated.
| 1778 W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 134 It did not require any great degree of penetration, to have comprehended Streaming and Draining under one idea. 1802 Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 110 Hence the streaming, as it is called, or washing of the earth to obtain the tin-stone from it. 1853 Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 859 The greatest quantity of tin has been produced by ‘streaming’ (as washing the debris in the valleys is termed). |
e. Biol. A peculiar flowing motion or ‘rotation’ of protoplasm in a cell.
| 1875 Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 38 In the sacs of the Characeæ the nucleus disappears altogether when the streaming (Strömung) of the protoplasm begins. 1880 Bessey Bot. 6 In their plasmodia..many kinds of movements may be observed, the commonest of which is streaming. 1894 E. A. Minchin tr. Bütschli's Investig. Microsc. Foams 122 The so-called rotational streaming of the protoplasm. |
f. Educ. The practice of dividing pupils in a school into streams (sense 6 e). Also, the allocation of pupils to different schools according to ability.
| 1954 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol XLV. 147 Present methods of streaming in primary and secondary schools do not give the more backward as good a chance to make up. 1961 New Left Rev. Jan.–Feb. 6/2 A streaming system..with secondary modern, technical and grammar-type schools. 1966 D. Jenkins Educated Society v. 200 An argument for turning all Secondary schools into Comprehensive schools with a strong streaming system. 1971 Where Sept. 262/2 The practice of streaming—classifying children according to their abilities in reading, writing and arithmetic—is gradually becoming suspect. 1980 Daily Tel. 10 Dec. 16/6 The proposals include phasing out of church schools, single sex schools, and streaming. |
▸ g. Computing. The transfer of video and audio material over a network (now esp. the Internet) or (less commonly) from a disk as a continuous, real-time stream of data. Cf. stream n. Additions e, streaming adj. Additions b.
Streaming allows pre-recorded material to be accessed before the entire file has been downloaded and allows live broadcasts to be viewed over the Internet.
| 1987Why not streaming video recorders? in comp.graphics (Usenet newsgroup) 2 July Why not use streaming techniques? Back up a few frames, get up to speed, switch from play to record as the last frame goes by, cue the computer to start sending frames, record as many frames as the computer can send at full speed before it runs out of data, and then come to a normal stop. 1997 Creative Technol. May 18/1 Streaming means that the first part of he audio file is saved in memory, then played while the rest of the soundfile is simultaneously downloading. 2001 Personal Computer World July 194/1 Streaming, which enables you to start watching a video before it has completed downloading, has two forms: progressive and real time. 2006 U.S. News & World Rep. 20 Mar. 60/3 AT&T says it will do nothing to block or degrade access to the public Internet. It's simply adding a premium sideband of video streaming. |
▪ II. streaming, ppl. a.
(ˈstriːmɪŋ)
[-ing2.]
That streams, in senses of the verb.
1. a. Of a liquid, a river, etc.: Flowing copiously. Of a source, surface, etc.: Overflowing, running, or dripping with moisture.
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 61 Let streaming teares be poured out in store. 1590 ― F.Q. iii. iv. 17 And with his streaming gore Distaines the pillours and the holy grownd. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xiii. lxxvii, The streaming showres..which heau'n shed on the thirstie lands. 1655 J. S. Bonarelli's Filli di Sciro iii. ii. 52 That little streaming Brook. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 784 From the slain Victims pour the streaming Blood. 1797 Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Frenchm. T. (1799) I. 263 Constance..fixed her streaming eyes upon him. 1828 Lights & Shades II. 256 With clasped hands and streaming cheeks she implores us to give up our design. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxii. 4 Blasts that..lash with storm the streaming pane. |
| transf. and fig. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 150 Laburnum, rich In streaming gold. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits i. Wks. (Bohn) II. 6 With a streaming humour, which floated everything he looked upon. |
b. Of a cold: accompanied by copious running of the eyes and nose.
| 1923 W. R. Inge Lay Thoughts (1926) iii. vii. 229 Persons..suffering from streaming colds, which are quite as infectious as..mumps or chicken-pox. 1982 Guardian Weekly 26 Dec. 22/1 One is sorry for foreigners, both as a Christian duty and because they tend to have streaming colds. |
2. Of light or other effluence: Issuing in a full stream. Of a luminous body: Emitting a stream of rays or beams.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 115 Stremande sternez. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 3796 As ai stremand sternes stared all þaire wedis. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1656 Anone a stremyng sterre appered sodaynlye. 1600 Tourneur Transf. Metam. lxxxv. D vj, Her streaming rayes haue pierc'd the cloudie skies. 1634 Milton Comus 340 Som gentle taper..visit us With thy long levell'd rule of streaming light. 1735 Somerville Chase iv. 73 If haply then he cross the streaming Scent, Away he flies vain glorious. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigoniad i. 4 As, from the setting skies, At ev'n's approach, a streaming meteor flies. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 151 Clear in the streaming light they showed. |
3. Of a flag, hair, etc.: see stream v. 3, 3 b.
| 1567 Turberv. Epit., etc. 40 b, In steade of streaming sayles hee Wishes hanges aloft. 1575 Fenton Gueuara's Golden Epist. (1582) 14 Thou mayest see in mine [house] many streaming ensignes. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 143 Their streaming banners of silk..waved round the person of the emperor. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 214 The mild Tupia..Long watch'd the streaming signal from the mast. 1836 C. Wordsworth Athens ii. (1855) 11 Their braided hair falls over the back in two long streaming folds. 1855 Poultry Chron. II. 519 The male bird..with his white streaming feathers. |
4. Of persons or animals: Moving in a continuous stream.
| 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 9 Here, in streaming London's central roar. 1895 M. Hewlett Earthwork out of Tuscany 38 Streaming processions of virgins and young boys. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 12 Jan. 3/1 A fox..went away..with the streaming pack on fairly good terms. |
5. That ‘streams’ for tin: see stream v. 12.
| 1778 W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 132 When a Streaming Tinner observes a place favourable in situation, he takes a lease..of the land owner or lord of the fee. |
6. Biol. Of protoplasm: cf. streaming vbl. n. e.
| 1894 E. A. Minchin tr. Bütschli's Investig. Microsc. Foams 124 The structural relations of the streaming protoplasm of the vegetable cell. |
Hence ˈstreamingly adv.
| a 1500 Medulla Gram., Coactim, stremyngly. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 404/2 At the burning of Corinth the veins of copper, brasse, golde, and siluer did runne streamingly together, and become mixed. a 1608 Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 362 Now goeth fire out of his mouth streamingly. 1677 Coles Eng.-Lat. Dict., Streamingly, profluenter. 1710 Fuller Pharmacop. 152 This of Turbith..brings off..thin Lympha..plentifully and streamingly. |
Add: 7. Computing. Pertaining to, designating, or making use of a form of tape transport, used mainly to provide backup storage, in which data may be transferred in large quantities without interruption while the tape is still in motion.
| 1979 Electronics 24 May 208/3 In its high-speed ‘streaming’ mode, the unit's half-inch tape races along at 100 in./s, taking data on the fly in large blocks of up to a full disk at a time. 1980 Ibid. 23 Oct. 240/2 There does not seem to be a consensus as to which way the industry will go—to floppies, tape cartridges, or streaming tapes. 1986 Which Computer? Oct. 24/3 (Advt.), A single Minstrel 4 holds up to 160 MBytes formatted-disk capacity, with onboard streaming back-up of up to 60 MBytes. 1988 Times 13 Apr. 31 The M240..offers three disk drive slots (with the option of integral streaming tape units for rapid disk back-up). |
▸ b. Computing. Designating forms of technology which allow video and audio material to be transferred over a computer network or (less commonly) to and from a disk as a continuous, real-time stream of data; (now esp.) designating video or audio material transferred over the Internet in this way, as streaming audio, streaming media, streaming video, etc. See streaming n. Additions g.
| 1987 in comp.graphics (Usenet newsgroup) 2 July (title) Why not streaming video recorders? 1991 Infoworld (Nexis) 5 Aug. Director 3.0 supports System 7.0 capabilities, including..streaming audio playback. 1997 Computer Weekly 18 Sept. 12/5 The format should provide Web site producers with better tools for creating streaming media. 2002 F. Broughton & B. Brewster How to DJ (Properly) 232 There are two different ways to put your mix on the internet—as a standard soundfile (eg an MP3), which people can download; or as a streaming file, which they can listen to but not easily download. 2007 Daily Tel. 2 Apr. 16/3 Welcome to the world of Justin Kan, who is ‘lifecasting’—transmitting live streaming video of everything he does, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. |