ˈresting-place
[f. resting vbl. n.1]
1. A place where one rests or may rest.
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 16 Myght he neuer noure fynd a restyng place. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 16540 A Pylgrym or a passagour..reioyseth whan he Resorteth to his restynge place. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 That he sholde neuer thynke this worlde his fynall habitacyon and restyng place. 1587 Golding De Mornay xix. (1592) 303 Like as the Iewes betokened the Restingplace of the blessed sort by a goodly Garden. a 1627 Sir J. Beaumont Dial. betw. World, Pilgr. & Vertue ii, Weary passengers. whose desp'rate case I pitie, and prouide a resting-place. 1682 Otway Venice Preserved iii. ii, Can Belvidera want a Resting-place When these poor Arms are open to receive her? 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 291 The various conveniencies and accommodations provided for the brutes, their feedings and resting-places. 1814 Southey Carmen Triumph. xviii, Then when the waters of the flood abate The Dove her resting-place secure may find. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost i. 23 That this world is not his resting-place, that his home is in eternity. |
b. fig., in various uses.
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1005 Trouthe..chose hys maner principalle In hir that was his restynge place. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie (Arb.) 88 As a resting place and perfection of so much former speach as had bene vttered. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 333 ¶22 As he knew all the Arts of affecting the Mind, he knew it was necessary to give it certain Resting-places. 1789 Ld. Auckland Corr. (1861) II. 185 The sameness..is such, that there are no periods or resting-places for the mind. 1863 Sat. Rev. 2 May 554 The French Academy is now the last resting-place in France of freedom of thought. 1876 R. H. Hutton Ess. (ed. 2) I. Pref. 8 The final resting-place of the moral reason of man. |
c. The place where a dead person is laid to rest. Freq. with last.
| 1808 Scott Marm. ii. xiv, His body's resting-place, of old. 1833 Tennyson May Queen ii. x, If I can I'll come again, mother, from out my resting-place. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xix. 240 The chapter from Job which has consigned so many to their last resting-place. |
2. A break or landing in a staircase.
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 439 The floor between the two flights is termed a half-space or resting-place. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 594 Where the height of a story is considerable, resting places are necessary. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v. Half-pace. |