▪ I. piling, vbl. n.1
(ˈpaɪlɪŋ)
[f. pile v.1 + -ing1.]
1. The action of pile v.1; the driving of piles; the forming of a foundation or defence with piles.
| c 1440 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 143 In mundacione de langmerdyk cum le pylyng ibidem fact. c 1582 T. Digges in Archæol. XI. 226 Yt is..doubtfull..whether they shall euer with any pyling reach so deepe as to make a sure foundation. 1739 C. Labelye Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 55 The Grounds which most require piling are a loose Sand, soft Clays, and..fenny Places. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §336 The piling of this foundation was finished. 1973 Daily Tel. 3 Apr. 21 (Advt.), Piling has also been completed on the Hutchison House site and construction of the foundation is well in hand. 1975 BP Shield Internat. May 2 (caption) Piling into sea bed after removal of flotation tanks. 1977 Daily Times (Lagos) 25 Feb. 3/4 Mr. Ogundiya recalled that during the initial piling on the site, the management of Leventis wrote to his ministry threatening to claim ₦6 million if there was any damage to their building. |
2. A mass of piles; a structure composed of piles; pilework; wood for piles.
| 1488 Maldon, Essex, Liber B. lf. 39 (MS.) The Brygge in Maldon..was so in decaye bothe in stone werke and also in wodyng and pylyng. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Pilotis, a pyling with timber in water workes. 1772 Hutton Bridges 99 A border of piling to secure the foundation. 1883 Century Mag. XXVI. 422 Seven hundred feet of piling were driven. 1939 A. Ransome Secret Water xiv. 170 The wood of the quay was rotting, and water was working in and out through gaps in the piling. 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 18 Mar. 6/2 It is claimed that the timber piling is not sufficiently strong to support the structure and the loads it carries; the pile caps and stringers are in poor condition. 1975 Lamp (Exxon Corporation) Winter 11/2 When the platform's steel jacket was being emplaced this spring, the pilings struck a patch of sand in the bottom clay and couldn't be driven until larger and more powerful pile-driving equipment was moved to the site. 1977 New Yorker 9 May 118/2 They should see Prudhoe Bay. It's so damned clean and neat and sterile—with refrigerated pilings, so the tundra won't melt. |
3. attrib., as piling engine.
| 1863 Daily Tel. 6 Apr., Instructed to collect timber, piling engines, staff, &c. 1898 Engineering Mag. XVI. 91 The timber..is chiefly for piling purposes and spars. |
▪ II. piling, vbl. n.2
(ˈpaɪlɪŋ)
[f. pile v.2 + -ing1.]
1. The action of forming into a pile or piles; heaping up, building up in a regular pile.
| c 1358 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 561 Will'o Randman pro pilyng et sortyng lane. 1435–6 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 418 Paid for costis, ffreight, cariage, wharvage, & pilyng up of ii shippes of waloill. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Entassement, heaping, a piling. 1807 Hutton Course Math. II. 262 Of the Piling of Balls and Shells. 1867 Barry Sir C. Barry ii. 50 This piling of house upon house. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Piling (Metallurgy), building up pieces of sheared or scrap iron into a pack suitable for heating in a balling or reheating furnace. 1884 J. Phin Dict. Apiculture, Piling, placing hives one above the other; storyfying. |
b. Leather-making. The putting of hides in a pile or heap in order to sweat them and cause the hair to come off; also including other processes (such as hanging them up in a stove) by which the result is expedited. U.S.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1703/2 Piling,..(Leather) unhairing hides by piling [i.e. heaping] or hanging up in a stove, so called. 1885 C. T. Davis Leather vii. (1897) 126 Piling is nothing more nor less than a slow inward sweating. |
2. attrib. and Comb., as piling furnace, piling swivel.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 176 The piling action of storms. 1861 Fairbairn Iron 121 The pieces [of scrap iron]..being piled or faggotted into convenient sized masses..are placed in a reheating or piling furnace. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 9 Dec. 7/2 A cut-off..—with a piling swivel subsequently asked for—is fitted to all naval rifles. |