▪ I. sacking, vbl. n.1
(ˈsækɪŋ)
[f. sack v.1 + -ing1.]
1. The action of sack v.1, in various senses.
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 362 The businesse that there was in chargyng and ladyng of shippes with haye, sackyng of Bisket [etc.]. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 6 To prevent the sacking of the paper. 1860 Harper's Mag. XX. 452 Another frequent and laborious part of the drive is sacking... When the logs have been lodged upon the shore..three or four men seize each log with their cant-dogs and absolutely lift or drag it along the mud and sand a considerable distance. 1887 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 98 Sacking, 41 sacks per ton, 20 days' labor, at $3. 1958 Daily Sketch 2 June 1/2 This will not mean sackings as the buses are 3,000 men short now. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard vi. 183 The normal fracas following a sacking would bring too much attention to Sneed when he stepped into the vacancy. |
† 2. Cant. The occupation of a prostitute. Obs.
| 1591 Greene Disc. Coosnage (1592) C 1 b, Sacking law, lecherie. Ibid. C 2, In sacking Law The Bawd if it be a woman [is called] a Pandar. 1592 ― Disput. Ded. A 2, The sacking and crosbyting lawes, which strumpets vse. Ibid. A 4 b, Why Nan, are you growne so stiffe, to thincke..that your sacking can gaine as much as our foysting? |
▪ II. sacking, vbl. n.2
(ˈsækɪŋ)
[f. sack v.2 + -ing1.]
The action of plundering (a city, etc.).
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 74 Whan newes were brought into Spayn of the sacking of Rome. 1638 Penit. Conf. vii. (1657) 177 At the sacking of Jericho the spoils were devoted to the Lord. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xlix. 192 Yet for all that he could not keep the cabbins from sacking. 1783 Justamond tr. Raynal's Hist. Indies IV. 184 The sacking of Panama in 1670 by John Morgan the English pirate. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville I. 223 Sackings, burnings, plunderings, scalpings. |
▪ III. sacking, n.
(ˈsækɪŋ)
Also 6 seckynge.
[f. sack n.1 + -ing1.
OE. had sæccing of equivalent formation, occurring with the sense ‘bed’ (Vulg. grabatum) in Mark vi. 55.]
1. A closely woven material of flax, jute, hemp, or similar material, used chiefly in the making of sacks, bags, etc.; also, a piece of such material; transf. of other material used for the same purpose.
| 1707 Ld. Raby in Hearne Collect. 14 Sept. (O.H.S.) II. 42 His Horses stand with..Sackings instead of Cloaths. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. vii. lxxxviii. 406 Sacking of different qualities for bags..is..exported. 1810 Hull Improv. Act 62 Such sack shall be made of linen called Sacking. 1833 H. Martineau Cinnamon & Pearls v, If his dress has always been sacking, his ignorant choice will be of sacking still. 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. xxi. 199 Next was a sacking of clapboards pinned down; and then a very thick straw bed. 1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. v. 168 The flax fabrics woven in Ireland are chiefly fine and coarse linens, canvas, sacking, and damask. a 1849 Poe Murders in Rue Morgue Wks. 1895 III. 70 They were both then lying on the sacking of the bedstead. 1881 Daily News 23 Aug. 3/6 There is less doing in ropes..and sackings. |
† 2. A material for ladies' dresses. (Cf. sack n.1 6, sackcloth 2.) Obs. rare.
| 1589 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 79, iii yeards & a d. striped seckynge, iis. xjd. 1595 [see sack n.1 6]. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as sacking bottom, sacking-cloth, sacking goods, sacking-maker, sacking needle; parasynthetic, as sacking-bottomed, sacking-wrapped adjs.
| 1707 Rec. Baron Court of Stitchill (S.H.S.) 158 To pay..10sh. 8d...for 8 ells of sacking-cloth. c 1710 in Ashton Soc. Life Q. Anne I. v. 75 New sacking bottom'd Bedsteads at 11s. a piece. 1744 J. Hempstead Diary (1901) 425 [I was] fitting a new Bedstid that I Sent with Sacking Bottom. 1780 Westm. Mag. Suppl. 730/1 James Allen,..Wantage, Berks, sacking-maker. 1797 Indenture Doncaster (MS.), George Needham, sacking-manufacturer. 1841 G. Catlin Lett. on N. Amer. Indians I. 191 A sacking-bottom, made of the buffalo's hide. 1868 G. G. Channing Early Recoll. Newport, R.I. 254 Sometimes it [sc. the bedstead] was furnished with a ‘sacking bottom’. 1881 Whitehead Hops 61 The hops are picked into bins, long, light, wooden frames, with sacking bottoms. 1886 Daily News 15 Sept. 2/4 Canvas, and sacking goods meet with a fair sale at firm prices. 1895 B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 185 He was..put in leg-irons, and a convict sacking-coat. 1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke viii. 129 One small sacking-wrapped bundle. 1970 A. H. Whiteford N. Amer. Indian Arts 67/1 Sacking needles are used to insert the final weft threads. |