ˈbearding, vbl. n.
[f. beard v. + -ing1.]
† 1. The action of cutting off the beard, e.g. the inferior parts of a fleece. Cf. beard v. 2. Obs.
| 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, viii. §4 That the same Wolle be as it is shorn..without any sortyng, berdyng, clakkyng. |
2. Open, resolute opposition; insolent defiance.
| 1577 Holinshed Chron. II. 36/2 Leaue lieng for varlets, berding for ruffians, facing for crakers. 1864 Linnet's Trial I. iii. i. 310 Would you do the bearding for us? |
3. Beard-like growth; also transf.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 9 They have..bearding about the lips like a Dragon. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. xii. x. 219 A Plain of silent snow, with sparse bearding of bushes. |
4. Shipbuilding and Carpentry. The bevelling of a piece of timber or plank to any required angle; concr. = beard n. 11 a; also attrib., as in bearding-line.
| 1833 Richardson Merc. Mar. Arch. 26 Cutting down and bearding lines are not introduced. c 1850 Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 144 The bearding-piece, which forms the fore-part [of the rudder] is of elm. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Bearding line, a curved line made by bearding the dead-wood to the shape of the ship's body. |