▪ I. fawning, vbl. n.
(ˈfɔːnɪŋ)
[f. fawn v. + -ing1.]
The action of the vb. fawn.
1. Said of animals: see fawn v.1 1.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 290 Spit him amidde þe bearde.. þet..fikeð mid dogge uawenunge. a 1300 Cursor M. 12350 (Cott.) Abute his fete þe quilpes ran..And wit þair fauning mad him cher. 1382 Wyclif Tobit xi. 9 With the faunyng of his tail he ioȝed. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 2002 The lyoun wald noght fyght, Grete fawning made he to the Knyght. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 43 Low-crooked curtsies, and base Spaniell fawning. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 109 The lower and stiller [voice of a dog] is called ‘whining’, or ‘fawning’. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iii. vii. (1845) 159 With..how many Fawnings, does he [a dog] court me to fling it him? 1844 Lowell Columbus Poems 1890 I. 153 O days whose memory tames to fawning down The surly fell of Ocean's bristled neck! |
2. Cringing, servile flattery or homage; an instance of this.
| a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. iv. 23 Fyth of other ne darth he fleo, that fleishshes faunyng furst for-eode. 1382 Wyclif Judith xiv. 13 Vagio..made fawnyng with his hondis. 1533 Udall Flowers Latine Speaking (1560) 67 b, Nor suffre our selues to be wonne..with faunyng. 1592 W. Wyrley Armorie 145 Let no man..To highlie of her [Fortune's] lended faunings bost. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxxi, No fawning, sir..cried the baronet. 1862 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. i. 3 A spirit of fawning and truckling towards those in authority. |
▪ II. fawning, ppl. a.
(ˈfɔːnɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. That fawns or shows pleasure or fondness as a dog does; caressing, fondling. Said also of the arm, tail, or tongue.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 12354 (Trin.) Þese oþere leouns..honoured him wiþ faunnyng tail. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. i. xvi, When that these grayhoundes had me so espied, With faunyng chere of great humilitie In goodly haste they fast unto me hyed. a 1569 A. Kingsmill Godly Advise (1580) 1 The subtile fanyng spaniell. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. i. (1626) 13 She..Hung on his necke with fawning armes. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 741 Fierce Tigers couch'd around, and loll'd their fawning tongues. c 1750 Shenstone Colemira 7 The fawning cats compassionate his case And purr around. 1842 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 2) V. viii. 120 As a king giving names to fawning brutes. |
| fig. 1635 Quarles Embl. i. vi. (1718) 25 Let wit or fawning fortune vie their best. |
b. quasi-adv.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 237 Þe nyȝtyngale..Twytereþ wel fawnyng Wiþ full swete song in þe dawenyng. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xii. xxiii. (1495) 428 The byrde Kaladrius settyth his syghte on hym and beholdyth hym as it were faunynge and playsynge. |
2. Showing servile deference, cringing, flattering.
| 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 137 Drunkenness is a fawning devil, a sweet poison. 1650 T. Hubbert Pill Formality 81 The fauning Parasite, and Saint-seeming devil. 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3708/1 Edward Troupe..with a fawning Scotch-like Tone. 1769 Junius Lett. xxxv. 164 A fawning treachery against which no prudence can guard. 1838 Lytton Leila i. v, The voice..smoothed into fawning accents of base fear. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xi. 652 A fawning and hypocritical race. |