▪ I. rowing, vbl. n.1
(ˈrəʊɪŋ)
[f. row v.1 + -ing1.]
1. a. The action (or † occupation) of propelling a boat, etc., by means of oars.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark vi. 48 He..ᵹesæh hia wynnennde in rowincg. Ibid. John xxi. 8 Oðri..ðeᵹnas on scip vel on rouing cuomon. 1382 Wyclif Mark vi. 48 He syȝ hem trauelinge in rowynge. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiii. 151 Sum..died for weryness of rowyng and ower trauaillyng. 1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 197 Suche another rowynge..Was not sene of princes many a day. 1555 Act 2 & 3 Phil. & Mary c. 16 §1 Watermen exercising, using and occupying Rowing upon the River of Thames. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xi. 46 With strength of rowing we coasted along. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xviii, Here what tugging, what towing, what rowing! 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. x. 30 They gave over rowing, and..asked us what we desired of them. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Vogue, the rowing of a galley. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 55 The very best and most effectual posture in a man is that of rowing. 1863 Sat. Rev. 4 Apr. 438 Such rowing as that of Oxford is always worth going to see. 1887 Stevenson Merry Men i. 13 Sea⁓cloth polished on the bench of rowing. |
| fig. 1638 Rawley tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1650) 63 The continued Course of Nature, like a running River, requires a continuall rowing and sailing against the stream. |
b. fig. (See row v.1 8 b.)
| 1856 in De Vere Americanisms (1871) s.v., We hope the President gave his Secretary a good rowing up; he certainly deserved it for his imbecility. |
2. attrib. and Comb. a. Denoting ‘propelled by oars’, as rowing-barge, rowing-boat, rowing-ship.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 23 A small rowe barge, with three other small rowing shippes. 1647 Hexham i, A rowing berge, een roey-jacht. 1820 Croker Diary 11 Mar., Went out in a rowing-boat to the breakwater. 1863 Sat. Rev. 4 Apr. 437 A severely-contested match between two well-manned rowing-boats. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 11 Feb. 10/1 Two 40ft. steam pinnaces and one 30ft. rowing barge. |
b. Denoting ‘connected with, used in, rowing’, as rowing-gear, rowing-seat, rowing-wheel; rowing machine, an appliance in which exercises may be done that simulate rowing; rowing stick poet., an oar; rowing tank (see quot. 1976).
| 1613 in Scot. Hist. Rev. (1905) July 360 Ane gailley..with her sailling and *rowing geir. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 770/2 Rowing Gear, outriggers and various devices to assist the oarsman. |
| 1848 J. de C. Locke tr. Montolieu's Swiss Family Robinson 2nd Ser. I. x. 95 (heading) The *rowing-machine. 1894 Outing Mar. 458/1 The exercises consist of hard work on rowing-machines or in the tank, vigorous dumb-bell exercise, and a run of two miles per day. 1935 C. Isherwood Mr. Norris changes Trains iv. 68 The Baron made a hobby of his figure. He tortured himself daily on an electric horse, a rowing-machine and a rotating massage belt. 1944 T. Rattigan While Sun Shines ii. 58 If you want exercise I've got a rowing machine in the bathroom. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon i. 20 Exercising on a rowing-machine. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 438/1 *Rowynge sete yn a schyppe, transtrum. 1648 Hexham ii, Een Riem-banck,..the Seats, or Rowing-seats in a Galley or Boate. |
| 1923 E. Pound XXX Cantos xx. 93 Their names are not written in bronze Nor their *rowing sticks set with Elpenor's. |
| 1892 Outing Jan. 277/2 In 1887 the *rowing tank was first put into practical use in the Yale gymnasium. 1939 Nickalls & Mallam Rowing iv. 87 The object of the rowing tank is to allow oarsmen to indulge in..rowing without going out on the river... Tank rowing originated in America, where ice prevents any outdoor rowing for a considerable part of the year. 1976 Webster's Sports Dict. 360/1 Rowing tank, a large tank of water containing a mock-up of a shell in which an oarsman or sculler can practice his stroke and work on technique. The effectiveness of a stroke is indicated by a meter which measures the turbulence of the water. |
| 1808 Trevithick & Dickinson Patent Spec. No. 3148 In a ship..we place a *rowing wheel shaped like an undershot water-wheel furnished with floats or pallets. |
c. Misc., as rowing-club, rowing-match, rowing-room, rowing-shirt, rowing-song, rowing-supper.
| 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. ii. 70 Rowing matches were substituted..upon the Thames during the summer season. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xxx, Those ferocious dandies, in rowing shirts and astonishing pins and waistcoats. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxvi. 264 A stretch of the land-water wide enough to give us rowing-room. 1866 Woodgate Rowing & Training 86 The private races of the numerous rowing clubs in the kingdom. 1888 L. A. Smith Music of Waters p. xxvii, Rowing⁓songs should..also be included in this class. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 67 As to these rowing suppers, he would set them down at once. 1956 M. W. Stearns Story of Jazz ix. 96 Whereas early travelers heard rowing songs and sea shanties, later specialists found work songs. |
▪ II. † ˈrowing, vbl. n.2 Obs.—1
[f. row n.1 or v.2]
Becoming rowy or streaky.
| 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. III. i. 136 (E.D.S.), [Others make a strong brine,] and therein put pounds of fresh butter, and it will preserve them from rowing. |
▪ III. rowing, vbl. n.3
(ˈraʊɪŋ)
[f. row v.3 + -ing1.]
A rating, scolding, or severe talking to.
| 1832 E. Grosvenor Let. 15 Dec. in G. Huxley Lady Elizabeth & Grosvenors (1965) iv. 103 To some magistrates who behaved shabbily B. gave what was called ‘a proper rowing’. 1836 Mrs. Sherwood Henry Milner iii. v, That quizzing and rowing which he had experienced. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley lxxxiv, He gave him a devil of a rowing a few days ago. 1896 G. Boothby In Strange Company ii. vi, When I saw that my rowings proved useless, I ironed him for a couple of days. |
▪ IV. † ˈrowing, vbl. n.4 Obs.—1
[Cf. row v.4]
? Violent blowing.
| 13.. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig's Archiv LXXXI. 112/93 Þe Rouwyng in Contrariusnesse Of þeose wyndes more and lesse Bitokneþ diuers trauayle Of holi churche. |
▪ V. ˈrowing, vbl. n.5
[f. row v.7 + -ing1.]
The process of putting a nap on cloth.
| c 1475 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 284 As myche for gardyng, spynnyng, and wevyng, Fullyng, rowyng, dyyng, and scheryng. 1582 Hakluyt Voy. (1599) II. 162 The faults in Walking, Rowing and Burling, and in Racking the Clothes aboue measure vpon the Teintors. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 278 The Cloth worker what with rowing and setting in a fine nap, with powdering it and pressing it, with shering the wooll to the proofe of the threed, deale so cunningly [etc.]. 1964 H. Hodges Artifacts x. 145 Finally, the clean felted cloth was often brushed with teazles (teazling, rowing) to raise a nap of fine hairs on the surface. |
[The entry in Phillips (ed. Kersey, 1706) ‘Rowing of Clothes, is the smoothing of them with a Roller, &c.’, is prob. an erroneous explanation of this.]
▪ VI. ˈrowing, vbl. n.6
[f. row v.8]
Roving (of wool or cotton); also concr. a roving or rowan.
| 1748 Richardson De Foe's Tour Brit. (ed. 4) II. 335 The Number of Hands which it employs..in Spinning, Carding, Rowing,..is almost incredible. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl., Rowings, wool made up in long rolls, with cards, before it is spun. |
▪ VII. rowing
dial. variant of rowen.
▪ VIII. rowing, ppl. a.1
(ˈrəʊɪŋ)
[f. row v.1]
Using, or accustomed to use, oars.
| 1716 Gay Trivia i. 163 The rowing crew, To tempt a fare, clothe all their tilts in blue. 1850 Thackeray Pendennis xxx, There were rowing-men, whose discourse was of sculling matches. 1884 Harper's Mag. Feb. 338/2 The undisturbed slumber of rowing-men. |
▪ IX. rowing, ppl. a.2 rare.
(ˈraʊɪŋ)
[f. row v.3]
a. Rowdy; disposed to make a row.
| 1812 Examiner 9 Nov. 719/2 The defendant..made a promise to send some rowing lads on the next Sunday. |
b. Quarrelling; disposed to quarrel.
| 1961 Guardian 20 Oct. 7/6 The grey Depression background, the rowing parents. |