▪ I. riving, vbl. n.1
(ˈraɪvɪŋ)
[f. rive v.1]
1. The action of the vb.; rending, tearing, etc.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 747* (Dubl. MS.), A store..stede stalwortly bondyn;..In rapes fast for ryfyng of bernes. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 140 Fro rotyng & ryuing they be byraft. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 2368 Cuthbert wayued his hand on þaim, Fra ryvyng of thak þaim to reclaym. 1527 Accs. Ld. High Treas. Scot. V. 320 To underly the law for the ryving of the Kingis lettres. 1578 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 57 Taking of the saidis letters perforce fra him and ryving of thame all in pecis. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 68 The injurie done to her,..and also the ryving of her claiths. 1619–53 in Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. (1894) 580 Edward Dobson for riving out of twoe ridges of land [etc.]. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxiv, In the auld times o' rugging and riving through the hail country. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola v, Power was to be won by other means than by rending and riving. 1875 F. W. Myers Poems 91 Where wilt thou find a riving or a rending? |
b. spec. Splitting or cleaving of wood.
| 1471–2 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 94 Pro le ryvyng et sharpyng M{supl}D del stakes. 1543 Fabric Rolls York (Surtees) Gloss. s.v. Revyn, Ryving of fyerwoode in Frankelyn for my lorde. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 356 Let us take the axe, the wedge and the beetle, and settle our selues to cleauing and riueing. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 19 The Horne-bound tree..requires so much paines in riving as is almost incredible. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 331 The rude practice of riving was soon superseded by the more effective operation of the saw. |
| Comb. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1950/2 Riving-knife, a tool used in splitting balks for staves, clapboards, shingles, etc. Ibid., Riving-machine, a machine for splitting wood in the direction of the grain. |
2. concr. A fissure, cleft, or rent. rare.
| c 1450 J. Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 41 ‘Come to the ryuyng off this same walle’... ‘The ryuyng?’ quoth he, ‘qwere ys that?’ 1591 Percival Sp. Dict., Abertura, opening, cleft or ryuing of any thing. 1859 Sala Gas-light & D. ii. 29 He contemplates the rents and rivings, the rags and tatters. |
▪ II. † ˈriving, vbl. n.2 Obs. rare.
[f. rive v.2 + -ing1.]
Arriving; landing.
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 70 At his riuyng þe lond non him forbedde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 435/1 Ryvynge vp to lond, fro water, applicacio, applicatus. |
▪ III. ˈriving, ppl. a.
[f. rive v.1 + -ing2.]
That rives; rending, tearing.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 20976 Paul..suffurd..Bath mang men and riuand beist. c 1400 Sc. Trojan War ii. 445 [An eagle] Wytht hys rywand and sharpe tallons..The forseyde bowelles..toke. 1642 H. More Song of Soul i. vii. Wks. (Grosart) 14 Riving tortures spight,..To good the soul doth nearer reunite. 1781 Cowper Hope 640 Nature opposes, with her utmost force, This riving stroke. 1827 Praed Arminius vi, The riving axe and burning brand Rent forests. 1877 Bryant Song Sower iii, The pelting hail and riving blast. |