▪ I. shredding, vbl. n.
(ˈʃrɛdɪŋ)
Also 5 s(c)hredyng(e, 6–9 shridding, 7 shreading.
[OE. scréadung: see shred v. and -ing1.]
† 1. Pruning or lopping of trees. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 149/11 Putatio, screadung. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 264 Scredynge of trees. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 448/2 Schredynge, of trees and oþer lyke, sarmentacio, sarculacio. 1486 Nottingham Rec. III. 255 Felling and shredyng of wode. 1567 in F. J. Baigent Crondal Records (1891) 172 In shreddinge of busshes, heathe or fearne. 1601 Holland Pliny xvii. xxiii. I. 538 In lopping and shredding of trees. 1664 Evelyn Sylva 114 It may take root, and hasten..to a sudden Tree; especially, if seasonable shreading be appli'd. |
2. concr. a. A fragment; a shred. Now rare.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 20 Tuoelf ceawlas vel foðer screadunga fullo, duodecim cophinos fragmentorum plenos. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxvii. (1611) 241 It [the Common Prayer] hath a number of short cuts or shreddings which may bee better called wishes then prayers. 1672 Eachard Let. to B. D. (1705) 15, I knew of no better instance to represent the vanity of such kind of idle shreddings. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 112 The cloak and hat..worn to shreddings. 1853 Ruskin Stones Ven. III. iii. 136 An artistical pottage composed of nymphs, cupids, and satyrs, with shreddings of heads, and paws of..beasts, and nondescript vegetables. 1867 Morris Jason vii. 183 She..cast therein Shreddings of many herbs. |
† b. pl. or collect. sing. Prunings or loppings (of trees). Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cii. (1495) 667 The Arabees makith fyre of shredynge of the mirtus tree. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 449/1 Schredynge, or schrub.., putamen. 1529 in J. H. Glover Kingsthorpiana (1883) 70 Almaner of laufull loppe and schreddyng of trees. 1553 Respublica 102 The windefalles, the shriddinges, the flycinges. 1649 in T. West Antiq. Furness (1774) 178 Any shredings, lops, crops, under woods, and other woods. 1762 in Jrnls. Ho. Comm. 13 Feb. 1792, 255/1 A competent Quantity of Browsing of the Shredding of the Trees. |
† 3. ? Trimming with shreds of gold lace. Obs.
| 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iv, I do not know whether such flouncing and shredding is becoming even in the rich. |
4. Reducing to shreds; spec. the reducing of documents to small strips or fragments by a machine esp. for reasons of security.
| 1954 Paper-Maker Dec. 94 (Advt.), Watford Shredder and Duster. A speedy and efficient method of shredding, dusting and cleaning. 1966 Punch 15 June 864/3 The special executive type shredder involved the user in actually removing pins from documents before shredding. 1973 Times 18 May 11/4 Mr Odle said he did not know what documents Mr Liddy was destroying in the paper shredder but in retrospect he conceded that the shredding had been very significant. |
5. attrib., as shredding-hook, shredding-knife, shredding machine, shredding-scythe.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 106/15 Surculus, winᵹeardes screadungisen. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. John xv. 97 An unprofitable braunche, when it is cut of with a shreadyng hooke. 1577 Grange Golden Aphrod., etc. S iij b, Come Atropos therefore in haste On me to vse thy shredding knyfe. 1586 in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) I. 209 Time attendes with shredding sithe for all. 1615 Markham Engl. Housew. ii. 40 Take a good quantity of blaunch't Almonds, and with your shredding knife cut them grosly. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Shriddin' Bill or Hook, a tool used for cutting out grass, briars, etc., from a ditch. 1975 R. L. Simon Wild Turkey xii. 77, I was in my office..when I heard someone at the shredding machine. 1980 P. Kinsley Vatchman Switch xvii. 115 He switched on the shredding machine. |
▪ II. shredding, ppl. a.
(ˈʃrɛdɪŋ)
[f. shred v. + -ing2.]
Breaking up into shreds.
| 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi li. 501 Spectral trees, dimly glimpsed through the shredding fog. 1904 Dowden Browning 304 These change like the shifting and shredding clouds before our eyes. |