▪ I. propping, vbl. n.
(ˈprɒpɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the verb prop; supporting as or with a prop.
| 1492–3 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 188 For sartayne thynges..Repayryd in hys howse and for proppyng of the dore. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Pedatio, the proppinge or settinge vp of vines. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iii. i, What disturbs the great, In propping of their pride and state. 1902 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 50/1 The miner not only gets the coal but makes all proppings and repairs. |
b. pl. concr. Supports, stays, props.
| 1660 W. Secker Nonsuch Prof. 181 Your weakest building needs the most under propings. 1662 Gerbier Princ. 28 A Moorish Ground, whereon no New Building could stand any time without Proppings. |
2. Of a horse (Australia): Sudden stopping.
| 1884 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Melb. Mem. xxi. 152 Traveller's dam had an ineradicable taste for ‘propping’. |
3. The propelling of a wagon or carriage on one line of rails, by means of a pole or ‘prop’ extended from an engine on a parallel line, so as to push it along; a dangerous operation now illegal.
| 1900 Act 63 & 64 Vict. c. 27 Sch., 1. Brake levers on both sides of waggons. 2. Labelling waggons. 3. Movement of waggons by propping or tow roping. 4. Steam or other power brakes on engines. 1901 Dundee Advertiser 13 May 4 Tow-roping and ‘propping’..practices which have resulted in many accidents, are forbidden. |
▪ II. ˈpropping, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That props; supporting.
| 1567 Drant Horace, Epist. xvi. E vij, Propping elmes that clad with vinetrees be. 1821 Clare Holywell 139 in Vill. Minstr. I. 77, I..loll'd me 'gainst a propping tree. 1879 Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 69 Down fell her face upon the good friend's propping knee. |