▪ I. ˈnailing, vbl. n.
[f. nail v. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb in various senses; nail-making; the nails with which a thing is fastened.
| a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 625/466 Spere & spounge and sharp nayling. 1494–5 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 215 For nailyng & storyng of the beme. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 2280/1 He did bynd this Ieffrey prentise vnto the craft of nayling. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Nailing of Cannon, is the driving of a Nail, or Iron Spike, by force into the Touchhole of a Piece of Artillery, so as to render it useless to the Enemy. 1781 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) s.v., One Gasper Vimercalus was the first who invented the nailing of cannon. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 135 Lead nails are small round-headed nails, for nailing of lead. 1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur vi. iv, All he could do was to wrench the board from its nailing. |
| Comb. 1543 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 43 Item ij nalyng hamers ij{supd}. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1506/2 Nailing-machine.., a machine which acts automatically to drive the nails into shoe-soles. |
b. slang. (See nail v. 8.)
| 1819 Sporting Mag. IV. 208 Snaring of hares, packing of game and ‘nailing’ of keepers. 1820 Ibid. VI. 79 Those lads..care not for the expences of the tip provided there is no nailing. |
▪ II. ˈnailing, ppl. a.
[f. nail v. + -ing2.]
1. Fixing like a nail.
| 1887 T. A. Trollope What I remember II. vii. 119 Dickens said, with nailing forefinger levelled at me, ‘Give us that for Household Words’. |
2. slang. † a. (See nail n. 6 d.) Obs. b. Excellent, splendid. Also in adv. use, as nailing good.
| 1883 Pall Mall G. 29 Mar. 4/1 He was a well-tried old dog, and we can have another nailing run out of him another day. 1884 Mrs. E. Kennard Right Sort x. 113 What a nailing good fencer to be sure! |
▪ III. nailing
obs. form of nealing vbl. n.