ˈvending, vbl. n.
[f. vend v.]
1. The action of selling or retailing.
| 1666 Act 17 Chas. II, c. 5 §2 Any publick Vending of the said Books. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. xxvi. 254 For the raising and vending of provisions. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. I. xiii. 338 The famous mercantile society, called the Merchant Adventurers,..was instituted..for the vending of the cloth abroad. 1822 Lamb Elia i. Praise Chimney-Sweepers, [He] kept open a shop..for the vending of this ‘wholesome and pleasant beverage’. 1875 Helps Soc. Press. iii. 38 Now it will astonish most of my hearers that I have included the vending of oysters amongst noxious trades. |
2. Special Comb.: vending machine, a slot machine from which comestibles or other small goods may be obtained.
| 1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., Vending-machine, a machine having a mechanism, controlled by the dropping of a coin into a slot, for delivering any small article with which it has been charged, as a slot machine for selling chewing⁓gum. 1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods of Sculpture i. 15 A medium to low relief is used for coins, with a raised rim about the edge of the coin to protect the relief from such wearing factors as vending machines, turnstiles, and stacking. 1980 Times 13 Nov. 4/8 The tea trolley is being wheeled back into offices and the anonymous vending machine, the butt of many jokes..is on the way out. |