▪ I. whiting, n.
(ˈhwaɪtɪŋ)
Forms: 5–6 whytynge, whitynge, (5 wytenge, -yng), 6 whyting, -yng, whityng, -inge, 7 whytting, Sc. quhiting, quhittine, 8 whitting, Sc. whyten, 8–9 Sc. whiten, 6– whiting.
[ad. (M)Du. wijting, also † wittingh, MLG. wîtink ‘aculeja’, ‘amia’, ‘asellus’; app. f. white a. + -ing3. (The formal analogue ON. hv{iacu}tingr = a kind of whale, etc.) Cf. whitefish.]
1. a. A gadoid fish of the genus Merlangus, esp. M. vulgaris, a small fish with pearly white flesh, abundant off the coast of Great Britain, and highly esteemed as food.
| 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 705/23 Hic glaucus, a whytynge. c 1425 Voc. ibid. 642/8 Hic clamitus, wytyng. 1433 Stonor Papers (Camden) I. 49 In xij podryd [= powdered] wytyng, viij d. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII. 23 b, He robbed certein poore Fisshermen of Whitynges. 1620 Venner Via Recta iv. 76 The Whiting, notwithstanding that it is vnsauourie, and nourisheth very litle, is of some greatly..commended. 1664 in Maitl. Club Misc. (1840) II. 505 For a dishe of quhitingis 001 16 00. Ibid. 506 For a dishe of dryed quhittines 003 00 00. 1721 in W. Macfarlane Geogr. Collect. (S.H.S.) I. 39 The seas abound with..Turbet, Scate, Mackrel, Haddocks, whittings. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 91 And there will be partans and buckies And whytens and speldings enew. 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 155 Whitings appear in vast shoals on our seas in the spring. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 347/1 Whiting..is easily distinguished from the cod, haddock, and bib by the absence of the barbule on the chin. |
b. Locally applied to fishes of other genera.
(a) Some fresh-water fish found in Wales; also, a name on the Solway Firth and in the south of Scotland for a small fish of the salmon family, of uncertain identity, perhaps the young of the salmon-trout, Salmo trutta (cf. whitling). (b) In U.S., A fish of the genus Menticirrhus; also applied to the silver hake, and to the menhaden. (c) In Australia, A fish of the genus Sillago: see quot. 1882. (d) blue whiting, an oceanic fish of the cod family, Micromesistius poutassou, found in north-western Europe and the Mediterranean; = poutassou.
| 1587 Churchyard Worthines of Wales N, A Poole there is, through which this Cloyd doth passe, Where is a Fish, that some a Whiting call. 1774 Ann. Reg., Misc. Ess. 163 [Bala] lake produces very fine trout, and a fish called whiting, peculiar to itself. 1795 Statist. Acc. Scot. XIV. 410 There is abundance of fish,..in Esk,..such as salmon, grilse, sea trout, and whitens. 1873 T. Gill Catal. Fishes E. Coast N. Amer. 18 Merlucius bilinearis..American hake; silver hake (Maine); whiting (Mass.). Ibid. 27 Menticirrus alburnus..Carolina whiting. Ibid., Menticirrus nebulosus..King-fish; whiting. 1882 J. E. Tenison-Woods Fish N.S.W. 65 The ‘whitings’ are not like those of Europe. There are..four Australian species—the common sand whiting (Sillago maculata),..the trumpeter whiting (Sillago bassensis),.. Sillago punctata, the whiting of Melbourne..and Sillago ciliata. 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 81 The Norfolk Hog-fish Pomodasys fulvomaculatus..is the..‘Pork-fish’ and ‘Whiting’ at Key West. 1959 A. C. Hardy Open Sea II. xi. 229 The blue whiting..lives over the deep water off the edge of the continental shelf. 1974 Guardian 20 Mar. 11/1 The blue whiting..cod-like in taste and texture, slender in shape, about a foot long. 1977 Grimsby Even. Tel. 5 May 8/4 Certainly its size makes it an easier fish to process than the more publicised blue whiting. |
2. Allusive uses of sense 1. a. In proverbial phr.
With quot. 1721 cf. white a. 10.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 64 There lepte a whityng (quoth she) and lept in streite. 1570 Marr. Wit. & Sci. iv. i, But he that takes not such time while he maye, Shal leape at a whyting when time is a waye. 1670 Ray Prov. 199 To let leap a whiting. i.e. To let slip an opportunity. 1721 Kelly Sc. Prov. 158 He gave me Whitings, but Bones. That is, he gave me fair Words. The Scots call Flatteries Whitings, and Flatterers white People. 1808 Jamieson s.v. Quhyte, A proverbial phrase, still used to denote flattery: ‘He kens how to butter a whiting.’ |
† b. As a term of endearment: cf. whiting-mop (see 5). Also whiting's eye, an amorous look, a leer.
| a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 223 He callyth me his whytyng. 1673 Wycherley Gent. Dancing-Master iv. i, I saw her..give him the languishing Eye,..the Whitings Eye, of old called the Sheeps Eye. |
† 3. = white pudding: see white a. 11 e. Obs.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 159 As the Darbyshire huswife [sorts out] her puddings when she makes whitings and blackings, and liverings and hackings. |
4. (See quot.)
| 1792 G. Cartwright Jrnl. Labrador III. p. x, Whitings, trees which have been barked, and left standing. |
5. attrib. and Comb. (in sense 1), as whiting-ground [ground n. 12], whiting-monger, whiting-season; † whiting-mop, a young whiting; also as a term of endearment for a girl (see mop n.4). Also in names of fishes resembling the whiting, as whiting perch, pollack, pout (n.1), salmon (see quots.).
| 1891 Daily News 31 Oct. 6/5 About two hundred fishing boats were lying at anchor off the edge of the *whiting grounds about three miles outside Plymouth breakwater. |
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuff 29 Colchester oystermen, or *whiting-mungers and sprot-catchers. |
| 1803 Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 548 *Whiting Perch. Perca Alburnus. |
| 1686 Ray Willughby's Hist. Pisc. iv. ii. 167 Asellus Huitingo-Pollachius:..A *Whiting Pollack. 1758 Descr. Thames 222 The Whiting-Pollack..has this Name given it here, from its Likeness to a Whiting. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. ii. ix. 211 Next..in abundance are the whiting pollack..and the gar-fish or green bone. |
| a 1672 Willughby Hist. Pisc. (1686) Tab. L. membr. i. n. 4 Asellus mollis latus. *Whiting Poutes Londinensibus. 1758 Descr. Thames 222 The Whiting-Pout is remarkably broad, in Proportion to its Length. |
| 1804 Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 54 *Whiting Salmon, Salmo Phinoc. |
| 1791 W. Gilpin Forest Scenery ii. 190 In the *whiting-season..fleets of twenty or thirty boats are often seen lying at anchor on the banks. |
▪ II. whiting, vbl. n.
(ˈhwaɪtɪŋ)
Forms: 1 hwiting, 5 whytyng(e, wytyng, whittyng, 5–6 whityng, 6 whyghtynge, whighting, whitting(e, 6–7 whitinge, 7 whiteing, whyting, whytting, 8 whiten, 6– whiting.
[f. white v.1 + -ing1.]
I. The action of the verb.
† 1. The action or process of making white; whitening. Obs. a. by covering or coating with white: Whitewashing. Also fig.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 413 For whytyng that lyme is conuenyent. 1495–6 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 220 Payd to Symon dawber for whittyng of the chyrch, v days iij s. 1540 Dunmow Churchw. Acc. lf. 31 (MS) For whyghtynge of the porche. 1605 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 169 A plasterer, viij days and halfe whytting of the dyning chamber roffe..iiijs iij{supd}. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 81 Whiting and Stopping of fret seelings. |
| fig. 1628 A. Leighton Appeal to Parlt. 186 In this case, the whiting, daubing, or palliating will not serve. |
b. by depriving of colour: Bleaching.
| 1477 Act 17 Edw. IV. c. 4 Whityng & anelyng de tewle appellez pleintile. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. i. 58 For the speedier whiting of yarne. 1620 in Foster Engl. Factories India (1906) 192 The whitster..detaynes them in whitinge and starchinge about three mounthes. 1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1801/4 A convenient piece of Ground..for whiting of Linnen Cloth. |
2. Printing. The use of ‘white’ (cf. white n. 7 a and a. 2 d).
| 1884 Athenæum 24 May 658 The variety of type and the liberal whiting are quite luxurious. |
II. concr.
3. A preparation of finely powdered chalk, used for whitewashing, cleaning plate, and various other purposes.
In OE. only in Comb. hw{iacu}tingmelu ‘whiting meal’.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 525/2 Whytynge, or mater to make whyghte of.., albatura, candidacium. 1633–4 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons (1860) App. p. lxiii, 12 balls of whiteing to scowre the plate. 1690 Sir J. Foulis Acc. Bk. (S.H.S.) 129 To meg for whyting for teeth, 2 18 0. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 143 Take some whiten,..lay your foils upon it, and..polish your foils. 1844 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VII. 150/1 Anoint the segments..with thin putty, made with fine whiting and some of the linseed oil. 1880 Baring-Gould Mehalah viii, You cannot clean a deck with whiting, you must take holystone. |
III. 4. attrib. and Comb., as (in sense 1 a) whiting brush, whiting work; (in sense 1 b) whiting ground, whiting time; (in sense 3) whiting-manufacturer.
| 1611 Cotgr., Escouëtte,..*whiting brush. |
| 1692 Specif. Patent No. 256 (Patent Office) Erected a bucking house, fitted and prepared a *whiteing ground. |
| 1813 Examiner 22 Mar. 183/2 M. Price,..*whiting-manufacturer. |
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. iii. 140 It is *whiting time, send him by your two men to Datchet-Meade. |
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 407 Eek *whyting werk is thyng of gret delyte. |
▪ III. whiting
obs. form of whitten.