▪ I. wim, v. s.w. dial.
Forms: 5 (?)–6 wym, 7 wimme, 7, 9 wimb, 7– wim (9 whim).
[Of obscure origin; cf. wimble v.2]
To winnow.
Form and meaning in first quot. are doubtful.
| 1455 Churchw. Acc., Yatton (Som. Rec. Soc.) 98 For j man to helpe to wymmynge the malte to the mylle..ij{supd}. 1681 Oates Well Thresht 2 They are thresh't, and wimb'd. 1691 Ray S. & E.C. Words (ed. 2), To Wimme; Suss. Dial. i.e. Winnow. 1886 W. Som. Word-bk. s.v., Our volks be all busy wimin o' barley. |
b. Comb.: † wimsheet, a winnowing-sheet. Also ˈwimming vbl. n. in Comb. wimming-dust, wimming-sheet.
| 1532 in Weaver Wells Wills (1890) 111 One whit wymshete. 1535 Ibid. 116 To Pascowe Lethall, a wymeshit and bushell of rye. 1681 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 61 Some have strain'd a Wimsheet athwart a Barns Floor about the middle thereof, and with a Scoop or Shovel cast their Wheat against the upper part of the Sheet. 1825 Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng., Wim-sheet, Wimmin-sheet, a sheet upon which corn is winnowed. Wimmin-dust, chaff. |
▪ II. wim
var. whim n.1 in sense 4.
| 1802 Mawe Min. Derbysh. Gloss., Wim, an engine or machine to draw ore, worked by horses. |