▪ I. upˈlifting, vbl. n.
[up- 7, or f. uplift v.]
1. The action of raising or lifting up; an instance of this. Also fig.
| 1548 Geste Pr. Masse H iv, Can ther be made to god..an effectual prayer withoute an vplyftinge of oure hartes vnto hym? 1650 Metr. Psalms Ch. Scot. cxli. 2 Let..the uplifting of my hands [be] as th' evening sacrifice. 1834 Tait's Mag. I. 693/1 An uplifting of the horse's hind heels. 1844 Kinglake Eothen xv, There was an uplifting of arms, and a repeating of words. 1886 Hall Caine Son of Hagar i. v, With an eloquent uplifting of the hand. |
b. Geol. Elevation in level; an upheaval.
| 1833–4 J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 685/2 The uplifting of the Western Alps. 1855 Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 51 The uplifting and dislocation of strata. 1881 Q. Rev. July 102 Upliftings and downcasts of strata. |
2. Sc. Collection, levying (of rents, etc.).
| 1594 in Spalding Club Misc. I. 9 All receaving vplifting vptacking or intrometting with off ony maillis. 1640 Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 128 Unless your lordship caus hasten the uplifting and peyment of all that is dew. 1706 in J. J. Vernon Parish of Hawick (1900) 201 Collectors for the uplifting and inbringing of the stent. |
3. The action of the verb, in various senses.
| 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. xii, There was heard within the uplifting of a Scottish psalm. 1826 ― Woodst. v, A crowning mercy—a vouchsafing—an uplifting. 1899 A. C. Benson Life E. W. Benson II. 232 They excluded a source of sacred pleasure and divine uplifting from their lives. |
▪ II. upˈlifting, ppl. a.
[up- 6 b. Cf. uplift v.]
That uplifts or elevates. Chiefly fig.
| 1818 Shelley Homer's Hymn Sun 20 The light vest..Glows in the stream of the uplifting wind. 1881 [see uplooking]. 1889 E. W. Benson in Life (1899) II. 290 A friendship..of which every hour was uplifting. 1896 in Daily News 24 Feb. 3/3 To-day it [sc. the Salvation Army] is one of the greatest uplifting forces in the country. |