▪ I. emery, n.
(ˈɛmərɪ)
Also 6 emerye, (ymree), 7–8 emeril(l, 7 emerick.
[a. F. émeri, émeril, OF. esmeril = Sp. esmeril, It. smeriglio:—late L. smericulum, f. Gr. σµῆρις (σµῖρις, σµῦρις) a powder used for polishing.]
1. a. A coarse variety of corundum, used for polishing metals, stones, and glass.
| 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (1844) 379 My Lord toke to..the armore to by with emery xxd. 1505 Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. in Pitcairn Crim. Trials I. *123 Dichting of their steil sadilles with ymree. 1577 Wills & Inv. N.C. (1835) I. 415, Viij pounde emerye. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. ii. 225 That most hard and sharpe stone Smyris (which we tearme Emerill). 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. i. 2 Jernsey..whose..ground The hardned Emerill hath. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. iii. 69 The Magnet attracteth..the Smyris or Emery in powder. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 15 Make it..smoother with Emerick. 1759 Wilson in Phil. Trans. LI. 336, I then, with a little emery, made that edge..rough again. 1769 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. III. 349 The sharp and hard Stone Smyris or Emeril. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 33 Emery is..employed as the cutting powder. 1858 Greener Gunnery 217 Polish the barrels with..a little washed emery. |
b. = emery bag.
U.S.| 1864 Hist. North-Western Soldiers' Fair 71, 2 soldiers' reticules, 3 pin cushions, 5 emeries, 1 crochet tidy. 1900 M. E. Wilkins Love of Parson Lord 47 Her scissors, her emery, her thread, were on the ground. Ibid. 49 An emery of painted velvet in an ivory case. |
2. (See
quot.)
| 1789 Mills Strata Irel. in Phil. Trans. LXXX. 97 An irregular bed of iron ore, called emery by the inhabitants. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
emery grinding,
emery shaping,
emery-stone; also
emery bag, a case containing emery, used for keeping needles bright;
emery board, an emery-coated nail file (see also
quot. 1889);
emery-cake (see
quot. 1853);
emery-cloth,
-paper, cloth or paper covered with emery-powder, to be used for polishing or cleaning metals, etc.;
emery cushion = emery bag;
emery-file (see
quot.);
emery-grinder, an emery-wheel mounted on a stand, to be used as a grind-stone;
emery planer, a planer having an emery wheel as a cutter instead of a blade;
emery-powder, ground emery, hence as
v., to rub with emery-powder;
emery-roller, a roller coated with emery;
emery-stick (see
quot.);
emery-wheel, a wheel made of lead, or of wood covered with leather, coated with emery, and used for polishing.
| 1845 Lowell (Mass.) Offering V. 200 The strenuous application..soon taught me the value of an *emery-bag. 1893 ‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. Dec. 237/2 They [the slaves] would smouch provisions..or a brass thimble,..or an emery-bag. 1905 Daily Chron. 6 Apr. 4/7 A minority of Englishwomen who chafed against their educational inequalities, who loathed their emery-bag destiny. |
| 1725 in N. & Q. (1942) CLXXXII. 76/2 (London shop-sign) Sieve & *emery board. Robert Bacon, wire sieve maker. 1889 Cent. Dict., Emery-board, cardboard-pulp mixed with emery-dust and cast in cakes. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 538/2 Emery Boards—pkt 0/6. 1938 D. du Maurier Rebecca vi. 63 He took an emery board out of his pocket and began filing his nails. 1968 P. Geddes High Game i. 12 She had taken an emery board from her handbag. |
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) I. 644 *Emery-cake consists of emery mixed with a little beeswax. |
| 1873 Young Englishwoman Feb. 94/1 This natty little *emery cushion is composed of grey leather..filled with emery. 1937 A. Thirkell Summer Half ix. 241 Enchanting odds and ends, such as strawberry emery cushions and ivory stilettoes. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 101 *Emery File..a solid stick of Emery used as a file. |
| a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 312/1 *Emery grinding machine. |
| 1772 Phil. Trans. LXII. 360 The stem..made very smooth with *Emery paper. 1812 Examiner 28 Dec. 824/2 Blacking and emery-paper manufacturers. |
| 18.. Oxford Bible Helps 126 The corundum..which when ground is known to us as *emery powder. |
| 1885 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Mitre Court I. iv. 86 She had scrubbed, blackleaded..and *emery-powdered for that gentleman. |
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 274/1 An *emery roller is geared upon the..main cylinder. |
| 1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 157/1 Emery wheels are now mounted for use in a great many different ways,—either on slide-rests as turning tools, in emery planers and *emery shaping machines [etc.]. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 101 *Emery stick..a stick of wood round which Emery paper is glued. |
| 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. iii. 5 *Emeril-stones. 1765 Bowles in Phil. Trans. LVI. 231 Great blocks of emery-stone. 1864 Rawlinson Anc. Mon. II. vii. 187 The shamir, or emery-stone. |
| 1873 J. Richards Wood-working Factories 58 Grindstones, *emery wheels, buffing wheels. |
▪ II. emery, v. (
ˈɛmərɪ)
[f. prec. n.] trans. To rub or polish with emery; to coat with emery.
Hence
ˈemeried ppl. a.| 1844 N. Brit. Rev. II. 192 An emeried wheel. 1865 Intell. Observ. No. 38. 123 An emeried glass-plate. |