thatching, vbl. n.
(ˈθætʃɪŋ)
[f. thatch v. (q.v. for Forms) + -ing1.]
The action of thatch v.
1. The action or process of covering a building with thatch († formerly, with any roofing material).
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ix. 199 Tho..peers..putte hem alle to werke,..In þresshynge, in þecchyng. 1520 Maldon, Essex, Liber B. lf. 95 b, Circa le thechynge unius orei apud Sabernes. c 1683 M. Mackaile in Macfarlane Geog. Collect. (S.H.S.) III. 6 Gremsie affordeth only slates for thatching of houses. 1760 Foote Minor ii. Wks. 1799 I. 250 Fine old hay,..damag'd a little last winter, for want of thatching. 1846 J. Baxter's Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 316 The Somersetshire mode of thatching is preferable to all others. It consists in using unbruised straw, provincially called reed, instead of bruised straw with the ears on it. |
2. concr. = thatch n. 1.
| 1671 H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 311 The very rafters themselves which bear up the thatching. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 260 This kind of Thatching will indure 40, 50, or 60 Years. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 405 Long straw ropes, which bound down the thatching of stacks. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as thatching work; thatching-beetle, a thatcher's mallet; thatching-fork, (a) a forked stick used for carrying straw to the roof for thatching; (b) see quot. 1882; thatching-rod, a long flexible rod laid on the thatch to hold it down, and tied or pinned to the framework of the roof; thatching-spale: see quot. 1882; thatching-stake, a pointed stake with which the thatch is pinned down.
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 139 If thatchinge worke come in hande in haytime. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 259 In some parts of Kent they use no Withs to bind on their Thatching-rods, but..they use Rope-yarn. 1874 Hardy Far from Madding Crowd II. vi. 77 Where's your thatching-beetle and rick-stick and spars? 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 123 His small sharp billhook to split out his thatching stakes. 1882 Ogilvie, Thatching-fork, Thatching-spale, an implement with a forked blade and a cross handle at one end for thrusting home the tufts of straw in thatching. 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 438 The leaves..are used..for thatching purposes. |