▪ I. pounding, vbl. n.1
(ˈpaʊndɪŋ)
Forms: see the vb.
[-ing1.]
The action of pound v.1
1. a. Crushing or bruising into pulp or powder; trituration, pulverizing.
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Majadura, hammering, stamping, powning. 1601 Holland Pliny xii. xxvii, Verjuice may be made..by punning and stamping unripe grapes in morters. 1867 Baker Nile Tribut. ii. (1872) 24 Reduced by pounding in a heavy mortar. 1886 Pall Mall G. 20 Aug. 4/1 The juice of the apple, after being expressed by an operation called ‘pounding’, ferments. |
b. concr. The proceeds of this process; pounded substance; the quantity pounded at one time.
| 1872 Blackie Lays Highl. p. xviii, The sea bottom, covered with the poundings of these rocks. 1893 Daily News 28 Apr. 5/5 A certain London firm had taken his whole year's ‘pounding’ [of cider]. |
2. Striking or beating with or as with the fist; beating, pummeling, knocking, thumping; heavy firing; an instance of this.
| 1815 in Scott Paul's Lett. (1839) 125 [Remark attributed to Wellington at Waterloo] Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let's see who will pound longest. 1858 Col. K. Young Diary & Corr. (1902) App. D. 331 We should have given the rascals a regular pounding. 1896 T. L. De Vinne Moxon's Mech. Exerc., Printing 424 The pounding of a form..with furious blows from a heavy mallet. |
3. Heavy riding.
| 1883 Jessopp Arcady iv. (1887) 116 The dreary pounding back at night in the dark, to find the baby sick. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as pounding house, pounding machine, pounding mill; pounding barrel, a barrel in which clothes are pounded in water to cleanse them; pounding match (slang), a fight; also transf.
| 1869 Mrs. Stowe Old Town xxvii, The thunder of the *pounding-barrel announced that the washing was to be got out of the way before daylight. |
| 1656 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §353 Their work-hous was called pistrinum or a *punning-hous. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 813 A stamping mill or *pounding machine. |
| 1815 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. XII. 529 You will have heard of our battle of the 18{supt}{suph}. Never did I see such a *pounding match... Napoleon did not manœuvre at all. |
| 1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 43 A good situation on a creek for a *pounding mill. 1849 C. Lanman Lett. from Alleghany Mts. i. 17 The vein gold is brought to light by means of what is called a pounding mill. 1905 ‘P. Pennington’ Woman Rice Planter (1913) 142 The cows and pigs are fed on the flour, a gray substance that comes from the grain as the chaff is removed in the pounding mill. |
▸ colloq. A resounding defeat; a severe setback; a damaging onslaught. Freq. in to take a pounding. Cf. beating n. 3.
| 1912 W. Rauschenbusch Christianizing Social Order iv. i. 236 They learn to take the pounding of adversity with cool fortitude. 1951 Sport 30 Mar. 3/4 Leeds took a 4–1 pounding from Manchester City. 1975 Business Week 21 Apr. 66/3 Consumer finance..took a pounding in 1975. 1988 First Down 19 Nov. 22/3 Only Miami's 31-6 pounding at the hands of Buffalo on Monday night stopped the Jets falling from second in the division..to last. 1994 Wall St. Jrnl. 28 Nov. c7/4 Although small-cap technology stocks took a pounding in last week's sharp correction, they generally have been top performers among small-cap issues. 2001 Sunday Mail (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 25 Mar. Bookies are set to offer the stingiest odds ever laid on the General Election after taking a pounding from punters in the 1997 poll. |
▪ II. pounding, vbl. n.2
confining in a pound: see pound v.2
▪ III. pounding, vbl. n.3
in coining: see pound v.3
▪ IV. ˈpounding, ppl. a.
[f. pound v.1 + -ing2.]
That pounds, in various senses of pound v.1
| 1865 Le Fanu Guy Dev. II. xi. 105 He..strode up with pounding steps to his dressing-room. 1894 B. Thomson S. Sea Yarns 143 The ringing thud of the pounding kava⁓stones ceased. 1904 M. Hewlett Queen's Quair i. viii. 113 Ah, the adventure of it, the rush of air, the pounding horse, and the safe, fierce arms! |