▪ I. conditioning, vbl. n.
(kənˈdɪʃənɪŋ)
[f. condition v. + -ing1.]
1. The making of conditions, stipulations, etc.; subjecting to conditions.
| 1530 Palsgr. 149 Some [conjunctions] betoken condisionyng if a dede be done, as si if. 1699 Brown Erasm. Colloq. 5/1, I don't like your way of conditioning and contracting with the Saints. 1875 Veitch Lucretius 56 The series of conditionings of the Visible Universe. |
2. Comm. The testing of the condition of silk and other goods: see condition v. 7. conditioning house: an establishment where this is done.
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Conditioning Houses, trade establishments in London and Manchester, where silk is assayed. 1884 Manch. Exam. 21 Mar. 4/5 A report from the Milan silk market states that the conditioning returns remain very high. 1887 Yorksh. Post 8 Jan. 8 (heading), A Conditioning House for Bradford..Its principal object is to estimate with as perfect accuracy as possible the weight, measure, or purity which may form the basis of a contract concerning textile materials..Goods which go forth with the warranty of a certificate from the conditioning house manager..Larger premises, specially adapted to the business of conditioning, will be necessary. 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 124/1 Conditioning. When yarn is taken from the spindles it usually contains about 3 per cent. less than its natural moisture. It is therefore conditioned by keeping a few days in a damp place, so as to regain the loss. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 188/1 Conditioning, the process of adding to yarn, after spinning, the percentage of moisture necessary to bring it up to average conditions. 1954 Spalding & Hodge's Paper Terminol. 18 Conditioning tends to disperse any static electricity that may be present in the paper. |
3. The act of bringing an animal, etc., into good condition.
| 1861 F. Taylor Recoll. Horse Dealer xvi. 258 Another very important matter in the conditioning of horses, is water. 1892 Field 19 Mar. 414/3 These horses are of necessity sent up with glossy coat, unduly fattened—indeed, in ‘show’ condition; this, too, at the very time of year when such ‘conditioning’ would be likely to be most injurious. 1904 Daily Chron. 8 Oct. 4/5 Prior to actual racing, the conditioning and training of the pigeons is an absorbing occupation. 1908 Animal Managem. 266 Conditioning for such horses must be gradual. |
4. The training or accustoming of a person or animal to give conditioned responses. (Cf. condition v. 9 b.)
| 1920 Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. III. 4 Steps taken to condition emotional responses... The infant..was tested with his blocks immediately afterwards to see if they shared in the process of conditioning. 1930 R. S. Woodworth Psychol. (ed. 8) vi. 259 Practically all the ‘conditioning’ that the child gets would tend towards making him submissive. 1932 A. Huxley Brave New World i. 17 All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny. 1936 A. J. Ayer Lang. Truth & Logic vi. 166 The people with whom we argue have generally received the same moral education as ourselves... But if our opponent happens to have undergone a different process of moral ‘conditioning’..then we abandon the attempt to convince him by argument. 1943 [see condition v. 9 b]. 1953 J. S. Huxley Evol. in Action ii. 41 When Thorpe reared Drosophila grubs on media flavoured with peppermint, the adults were attracted by the same smell to lay their eggs. Such ‘olfactory conditioning’ could readily operate when an insect takes to a new food⁓plant, and could then lead on to genetic adaptations. 1955 Treatment Brit. P.O.W.'s in Korea (H.M.S.O.) 24 It was the normal fate of the prisoner who steadfastly refused to co-operate or who was sufficiently important in Chinese eyes to merit intensive ‘conditioning’. 1964 A. Koestler in Listener 14 May 786/1 When the rat presses it down with his paws, a food pellet falls into the dish. This experimental procedure is called ‘operant conditioning’ because the rat ‘operates’ on its environment—whereas in so-called ‘classical conditioning’ by the Pavlovian method, the dog is immobilized in its restraining harness. |
5. attrib. (sense 2) conditioning oven, conditioning plant; (sense 4) conditioning room.
| 1937 Labarre Dict. Paper 182/2 Conditioning ovens (Schopper's) for ascertaining percentage of moisture in wood pulp, cellulose etc. |
| 1960 G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 83/1 A conditioning plant..consists of a series of vertical compartments into which conditioned air is blown while rolls of paper are fed through. |
| 1932 A. Huxley Brave New World ii. 20 Infant Nurseries: Neo-Pavlovian Conditioning Rooms, announced the notice board. |
▪ II. conˈditioning, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. That conditions; limiting, qualifying, etc.
| 1860 Ellicott Life Our Lord i. 35 Who submitted for our sakes to all the conditioning circumstances of earthly life. 1886 Gurney Phantasms II. 523 The conditioning event or state on the agent's side. |
2. Bringing into good condition or state.
| 1889 Advt. in Land & Water 16 Mar. 7/1 Patent conditioning dog biscuit (containing bone). |
† 3. Used absol. = Provided, on the condition.
| 1820 Scott Ivanhoe xl, That good grey gelding, whom I heartily wish upon his legs again, conditioning his master lay there houghed in his place. |