▪ I. ˈperching, vbl. n.1
[f. perch v.1 + -ing1.]
1. The action of the verb perch (in various senses). In quot. 1483, provision of perches in a fairway or the dues paid for this: cf. perch n.2 1 c; in quot. 1818 = perching-place.
| 1483 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 364 All manner of men that occupieth shippes..shall pay to the Watyr-bailliff, for his perchyng, ii. d of silver, as oft tymes as thei comyth yn and out. 1552 [see perch v.1 5]. 1818 Keats Endym. i. 535 Pluck down A vulture from his towery perching. 1892 S. Barber Beneath Helvellyn's Shade 46 The ‘perching’ of boulders by the agency of ice in the glacial period. |
| attrib. 1883 Martin & Moale Vertebr. Dissect. 132 This is the perching muscle, and is so arranged that when the bird flexes the leg upon the thigh..the flexor muscles of the toes are pulled upon and the foot made to grasp the perch. 1888 E. Eggleston Graysons in Century Mag. June 274 He managed..to get perching-room on the window⁓sill. 1889 Women's Union Jrnl. 15 Nov. 87 Having their work carried to the perching room [to be examined: see perch v.1 5]. |
2. A process for softening skins in leather-making; cf. perch n.2 4. Freq. attrib.
| 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 361 There are..above the perching room.., two large logwood tanks. Ibid. 362, 12 Slocomb perching machines. These perching machines take the place of hand work. 1903, 1909 [see perch n.2 4]. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 625/2 Perching (leather), a process for stretching and softening a skin by working over it with a crutch stake, on the flesh side, while it is fixed to a horizontal pole (perch). |
▪ II. ˈperching, ppl. a.1
[See -ing2.]
That perches; spec. in Ornith. applied to the Insessores or birds with feet adapted for perching; insessorial.
| 1774 Beattie Minstr. ii. viii, The perching eagle oft was heard to cry. 1823 Vigors in Trans. Linn. Soc. XIV. 405, I wish..to designate this order by the title of Insessores or Perching Birds. 1880 A. R. Wallace Isl. Life iii. 35 The whole series of British Passeres or perching birds. |
▪ III. perching, vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.2
see perch v.2