▪ I. lasting, n.
(ˈlɑːstɪŋ, ˈlæst-)
[Elliptical use of lasting ppl. a.]
A durable kind of cloth; = everlasting B. 3.
| 1782 Pennant Journ. Chester to Lond. 141 The making and sale of shags, camblets, lastings, tammies, &c. 1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. iv. 113, 3–4 Lastings, 3–4 Fancy Lastings. 1857 James Hist. Worsted Manuf. x. 362 There were different sorts of lastings as prunelles wrought with three healds. Also serge de Berry. 1871 Echo 14 Jan., Other branches of trade,..such as damask and lastings, have much benefitted by the war. 1878 A. Barlow Weaving 440 Lastings, a strong cloth used for ladies' boots and made of hard twisted yarn. 1895 Strand Mag. Mar. 311 The man is clothed in a suit of ‘lasting’—that curious leathery material affected by the London apprentices in the days of Queen Elizabeth. |
b. attrib.
| 1872–6 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict., Lasting Cloth, a material similar to prunella cloth... It has the property of not readily catching fire. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss., Lasting-shoes, shoes of which the tops or upper parts are made from lasting. |
▪ II. lasting, vbl. n.1
(ˈlɑːstɪŋ, ˈlæst-)
Also 4–5 lesting.
[f. last v.1 + -ing1.]
The action of last v.1; continuance, duration, permanence.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 19562 (Fairf.) In lasting of cristen mannis life. 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 283 Thai had bath bot schort lesting, For thai deit soyn eftir syne. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 108 After þe quantyte of þy tresour is þe lastyng and þe defens, of þy kyngdom. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 299/1 Lestynge, or yndurynge, perduracio. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Longue durée, of long during or lasting. 1597 Bacon Ess., Reg. Health (Arb.) 58 To be free minded, and chearefully disposed at howers of meate, and of sleepe, and of exercise, is the best precept of long lasting. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. ii. iii, Thou art made for euer..if this felicitie haue lasting. 1715 Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 30 To prevent the Doors and Windows from being press'd with too much weight..is of no little importance for the lasting of the Building. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. (ed. 2) 230 The lasting of the iron plough, and the value of the iron. |
b. Staying power; = last n.4 2. Also attrib.
| 1860 Russell Diary India II. 346 Essentials to develope a man in stature, or strength, or ‘lasting’. 1898 St. James's Gaz. 12 Nov. 4/1 That mysterious thing known as ‘lasting power’, or ‘staying quality’. |
▪ III. † ˈlasting, vbl. n.2 Obs.
Also 3 lastung.
[f. last v.3 + -ing1.]
Abuse, blame, reproach.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 66 Vor heo hunteð efter pris, & keccheð lastunge. Ibid. 212 Þuruh more lastunge heo wrencheð hit to wurse. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 270 A þef is more worþi to be suffrid þan þe lastynge of a lesyngmongere. |
▪ IV. lasting, vbl. n.3
(ˈlɑːstɪŋ, ˈlæst-)
[f. last v.4 + -ing1.]
The action of shaping a boot or shoe on the last: chiefly attrib., as lasting-awl, lasting-machine, † lasting-stick; lasting-jack, -pincers (see quots.).
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills VI. 92 My Lasts..and my lasting Sticks. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Lasting-jack, an implement to hold the last while straining and securing the upper thereon. Ibid., Lasting-pincers (Shoemaking), a tool to grip the edges of the upper leather of a boot and draw it over the last. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 830/2 Lasting is a crucial operation, for, unless the upper is drawn smoothly and equally over the last, leaving neither crease nor wrinkle, the form of the boot will be bad. 1895 Daily News 13 Mar. 3/2 There is a magnetic lasting machine which takes up the tacks and presses them into a boot when it is on the last. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 4 Nov. 8/4 This method of ‘lasting’ is new. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 126 The lasting, i.e. the making of the upper on the last. |
▪ V. lasting, ppl. a. and a.
(ˈlɑːstɪŋ, ˈlæst-)
Forms: 2–3 lestend, -inde, 3 leastinde, 4–5 lastand, -end, -ond, 4–6 Sc. and north. lestand, 4– lasting.
[f. last v.1 + -ing2.]
1. Continuing, enduring; also of long continuance, permanent. (In early use often contextually = ‘everlasting’.) † always (or † ay) lasting = everlasting.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 159 Eche hele, lestende liht, and endeles lif. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2294 To arisen from ream to aa lestinde lahtre. 1258 Charter Hen. III in Tyrrell Hist. Eng. (1700) II. App. 25 We willen thet this beo stede⁓fæst and lestinde. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 221 Stoutly was þat stoure, long lastand þat fight. 1375 Barbour Bruce xx. 620 God..Bryng ws hye till hevynnis bliss, Quhar all-wayis lestand liking is. c 1440 York Myst. i. 46 In blys for to byde in hys blyssyng, Ay lastande. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 104 To thi reward thou sall haiff lestand blyss. ? a 1550 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 328 Fall on kneis doun Befoir the king of lestand lyfe and lycht. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1590) 337 b, The strongest building, and lastingest monarchies are subiect to end. 1603 B. Jonson K. Jas.' Entertainm. Coronation Wks. (1616) 862 That did auspicate So lasting glory to Avgvstvs state. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xvii. 87 Somwhat else required to make their Agreement constant and lasting. 1682 Sir T. Browne Let. Wks. (1836) I. 346 Retarded by the lasting south-west wind. 1738 G. Lillo Marina iii. ii. 47 The lasting'st peace is death. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. xii. I. 346 A lasting deliverance from the inroads of the Scythian nations. 1809 Med. Jrnl. XXI. 312 It is not..from a vast variety of external applications..that we are to expect lasting or even temporary benefit. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 506 The husband of that Alice Lisle whose death has left a lasting stain on the memory of James the Second. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 363 All these things are only lasting when they depend upon one another. |
2. Of material substances: Durable. † Of provisions, fruit, etc.: Keeping well; continuing fresh and undecayed (obs.).
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 1736 [She] laced wel eche leme wiþ lastend þonges. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner N v, Creame..neither is it so lasting as butter. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 8 A Violet..Forward, not permanent; sweet, not lasting. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xvii. 173 This stone..is light and lasting. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 55 A sort of good lasting fish. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. 50 And Spanish Brown will make a lasting Colour for course Work. 1721 Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. III. 199 Our black cloth is neither so lasting, nor of so good a dye as the Dutch. |
3. Sporting slang. Of a horse: Able to ‘stay’; possessed of staying power. (Cf. last n.4)
| 1811 Sporting Mag. XXXVII. 135 To get not only speedy but lasting racers. 1821 Ibid. New Ser. VIII. 88 How much a..lasting English racer, is capable of performing. |