▪ I. strutting, vbl. n.1
(ˈstrʌtɪŋ)
[f. strut v.1 + -ing1.]
† 1. The action of swelling with fullness, of projecting or sticking out, and the like. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. ciii. (1495) 847 [Brockes] fynde sleyghte and manere by suche stroutynge oute of the skynne to eschewe and put of the bytynge of houndes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 480/2 St[r]owtynge, nominaliter, turgor. 1573 Baret Alv. S 897 A stretching or strowtting out, estendement. 1622 T. Stoughton Chr. Sacrif. vii. 91 The Turkie cocke..maketh a great brustling and strouting with his wings. 1677 Miege Dict. Eng.-Fr., A Strutting out, bouffissure, enflement. 1683 G. Martine Reliq. Divi Andreae (1797) 183 The chaple is built on the east of the steeple, and strutts and projects out upon it about two foot, which strutting..makes the chaple to be in length without the wall 31½ foot. |
† 2. The action of ‘swelling’ or looking big; contending, blustering; flaunting, swaggering. Obs.
| 1399 Langl. R. Redeles iii. 121 For ben þey rayed arith, þey recchith no fforther, But studieth all in stroutynge and stireth amys euere. 1629 H. Burton Truth's Triumph 255 Without any strouting of arrogancy. |
3. The action of walking with stiff bearing and self-important air.
| 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Pol. Touchstone 442 Spanish Dons..with their usual Castilian strutting, and with unsufferable Spanish ostentation. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 156 ¶5 The Woman's Man expresses himself wholly in that Motion which we call Strutting: An elevated Chest, a pinched Hat, a measurable Step,..are the Marks of him. 1880 A. H. Swinton Insect Variety v. 209 A love-call that reproduces..the strutting, wing-drumming, and rustling of the males of the turkey and grouse at the pairing time. |
▪ II. strutting, vbl. n.2
(ˈstrʌtɪŋ)
[f. strut v.2 + -ing1.]
a. The action of strengthening or supporting with a strut or struts. b. concr. Struts collectively.
| 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §1066 The joists to be..stiffened with herring-bone strutting. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2431 Strutting, diagonal braces between joists to prevent side deflection. 1896 Daily News 15 Dec. 2/3 The Committee ordered certain works to be done, including..the shoring and strutting of the gables and great northern arch. |
c. attrib. strutting-beam, piece, a beam or piece that acts as a strut.
| 1753 F. Price Brit. Carpenter (ed. 3) 17 If the strutting-beam..be drove in very tight, it takes all the weight off from the rafters. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §238 Pieces of timber driven fast between each pair of joists, with their ends butting against the groin of the joists; they are commonly called strutting pieces, and their use is to stiffen the floor. |
▪ III. strutting, ppl. a.
(ˈstrʌtɪŋ)
[f. strut v.1 + -ing2.]
† 1. That swells or bulges with fullness. Also with out. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xcvi. (1495) 842 Some ape is callyd Spinga and ben rough and hery wyth stroutynge pappes and teetys. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 480/2 Strowtynge, adjective, turgidus. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon iii. iii. 1421 Fortie kine..With strouting duggs that paggle to the ground. 1620 Venner Via Recta iv. 85 Turgid and strouting-out bellies. |
| β 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, s.v. Caper, Distentæ lacte capellæ, hauyng struttyng teates. 1654 R. Codrington tr. Iustine xliv. 519 A Hinde, who did offer her strutting dugs unto the little one. 1693 J. Dryden Jun. in Dryden's Juvenal xiv. 169 As thy strutting Bags with Money rise. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 127 ¶6 The strutting Petticoat smooths all Distinctions, levels the Mother with the Daughter. 1815 W. Herbert Helga vi. 2084 Prosperous gales Already fill the strutting sails. |
| Comb. 1579 Twyne Phis. agst. Fortune ii. xiii. 187 Doe I not see thy bagges stroutyng full? 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 3 An infinite multitude there is of tame cattell with udders strutting-full of milke. 1652 Benlowes Theophila xiii. x. 237 Next Close feeds many a strutting udder'd Cow. a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal ii. (1673) 21 The strutting-belly'd spindle, that does swell With slender yarn. |
† b. That distends or causes to swell. Obs.
| 1567 Turberv. Epit. etc. 14 For hee the emptie bagge with winde and strouting blast doth fill. |
† 2. That protrudes stiffly, sticks out, or juts forth. Obs.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden VII. 385 Þat tyme men usede stroutynge lokkes [L. tunc fluxus crinium]. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xiv. xxxii. (1495) E vij, The moost hyghe strowtyng partyes of cragges ben callyd Scopuli. 1598 Chapman Achilles Shield To Vnderstander, Talke our quidditicall Italianistes of what proportion soeuer their strooting lips affect. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 77 The protuberating or strutting part of the Face. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 439 His strutting Ribs on both sides show'd Like furrows he himself had plow'd. |
† 3. fig. Swelling with pride or importance; wrangling, contending; flaunting, swaggering. Obs. exc. as in 5 b.
| 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 41 Learne here ye mortalles all, what tis with stroutyng pride to swell. 1623 B. Jonson Time Vind. (1640) 97 These are fit freedomes For lawlesse Prentices, on a Shrovetuesday..; For drunken Wakes, and strutting Beare-baytings. 1677 Miege Dict. Eng.-Fr., A Strutting fob,..qui piafe, qui fait le brave. 1725 Ramsay To Duncan Forbes x, When strutting naethings are despis'd, With a' their stinking pride. |
† 4. That stands erect with the feet firmly planted and head high. Also transf. Obs.
| a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary iii. v. (1651) 52 Thy belly looks like to some strutting hill, O'r shadow'd with thy rough beard like a wood. 1693 Dryden Juvenal vi. 365 Behold the strutting Amazonian Whore, She stands in Guard with her right Foot before. 1710 Swift Little Ho. Castleknock 13 This is the little strutting pile, You see just by the church-yard stile. |
5. That walks with a stiff erect gait and self-important air.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 153 Like a strutting Player, whose conceit Lies in his Ham-string. 1610 ― Temp. i. ii. 385, I heare, the straine of strutting Chanticlere. 1635 Quarles Embl. iv. iii. 16 My loftie strutting steps disdaine to tire. 1719 in W. W. Wilkins Polit. Ballads (1860) II. 193 In his embroider'd coat they found him, With all his strutting dwarfs around him. 1829 Cunningham Brit. Painters I. 162 Hogarth was a strutting consequential little man. 1912 C. N. & A. M. Williamson Guests of Hercules v. 54 Tables where people drank tea and fed the strutting pigeons. |
b. fig.
| 1601 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. iv. 1386 My high tiptoe strouting poesye. 1779 Johnson L.P., Gray Wks. 1825 VIII. 487 He [Gray in his Odes] has a kind of strutting dignity, and is tall by walking on tiptoe. 1785 Cowper Let. to Newton 10 Dec., All his persons..speak in an inflated and strutting phraseology. 1813 Examiner 15 Feb. 106/2 He was..fond of strutting sentiments, and well-rounded declamation. 1852 M. Arnold Urania iv, Our petty souls, our strutting wits. |
Hence ˈstruttingly adv.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 16/2 A-strut, or strutyngly, turgide. Ibid. 480/2 Strowtyngly, or asturt. 1576 Newton Lemnie's Complex. i. x. 80 b, It is to bee noted that these complexioned personnes be..graunde paunched & stroutingly bellyed. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 1031 He walks proudly; struttingly. 1780 Davies Garrick (1781) I. iii. 25 In Tamerlane he [Bridgewater] was solemnly drowsy in speaking, and struttingly insignificant in action. 1827 Lytton Pelham lxxix, Slowly and struttingly did the man of two virtues perform the whole pilgrimage of Oxford Street. 1902 Swinburne Dickens (1913) 31 The struttingly offensive father [Dombey]. |