▪ I. mopping, vbl. n.1
(ˈmɒpɪŋ)
[f. mop v.1 + -ing1.]
Grimacing; also, an instance of this.
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 227 Administring matter of mirth with their ridiculous moppings. 1881 Stevenson Virg. Puerisque 110 Such a mopping and a mowing. |
▪ II. mopping, vbl. n.2
(ˈmɒpɪŋ)
[f. mop v.3 + -ing1.]
Rubbing or wiping with or as with a mop. Also mopping-up, the action of the verb mop up, in various senses (also fig.). Also attrib.
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxi, The heat was terrible, and the mopping of the ladies' faces everlasting. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 830 A method which combines general chloroform narcosis with frequently-repeated local moppings of the pharynx and larynx of the patient. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 9/4 Persistent ‘mopping up’ of London stocks [of silver] naturally restricts supplies for Continental and other requirements. 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 394 Mopping up trenches, the crushing of hostile units which continue the resistances at certain parts of the trench, and the searching of the trenches and bombproofs with a view to making sure that none of the enemy are left in them. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 158 Mopping-up, the term for the work allotted to special parties of men appointed to follow close in the track of advancing ‘waves’ of troops, in order to explore and clear the enemy lines and dug-outs of men remaining behind... The Mopping-up method was first adopted at the Battle of Arras in February, 1917. 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 12 July 5/1 Six flood-weary West Virginia communities began mopping-up operations..today after two surging creeks flooded homes and business houses. 1940 Economist 20 Apr. 717/2 We must not be diverted in Narvik, which is now..a mopping-up operation. 1940 Ibid. 2 Nov. 552/1 In the last war, the Excess Profits Duty proved itself an excellent ‘mopping-up’ tax, against an inflationary background. 1940 ‘Gun Buster’ Return via Dunkirk ii. iv. 120 Mopping-up parties of Tommies were investigating the farmhouses. 1959 Listener 19 Mar. 521/1 Shakespeare is naturally drawn upon very little, since he had already been the subject of ‘mopping up’ in every volume of this kind. 1962 W. Nowottny Lang. Poets Use i. 24 A mopping-up of successive problems in one area after another until the whole domain of poetic language is occupied and systematized. 1967 G. F. Fiennes I Tried to Run a Railway i. 4 We rounded up a few volunteers to do a mopping up operation on the permanent way. 1973 I. Butler Eldest Brother xix. 339 Mopping-up operations in Gujerat. |