▪ I. shouldering, vbl. n.
(ˈʃəʊldərɪŋ)
[f. shoulder v. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the verb; an instance of this.
| 1438 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 11 Schulderying de le gystes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 47 Some thought to raise themselves to high degree..by close shouldring; some by flatteree. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 239 Care being taken that the point of the knife does not..go between the shoulder-blade and the ribs. This error..in slaughtering pigs..is called shouldering. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. I. xvii. 208 There may have been something of discourtesy in the occasional shoulderings and hustlings. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 342/1 (Driving) Shouldering, of the horse, pushing sideways upon pole or partner. |
b. Amount of ‘shoulder’ or projection.
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xiii. ¶4 The..Face thus finished, he considers what Sholdering the Shank of the Punch makes now with the Face, round about the Letter. |
2. concr. Something which projects or supports as a shoulder. † Also = epaulement.
| 1388 Wyclif 1 Kings vii. 30 And bi foure partis weren as litle schuldryngis [Vulg. humeruli] vndir the waischyng vessel,..Margin, Schuldryngis; that is, schort pileris to susteyne the waschyng vessel. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 149 Therfore to drawe easely and vniformely..vntil you come to the rig or shouldring of ye head [of the shaft], is best. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 108 Cut the Graff..with a shouldring but not deep. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Shouldring, in Fortification, is a Retrenchment opposed to the Enemies, or a Work cast up for a Defence on one side. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 583/1 When there is not a kerb there should be a ‘shouldering’ of sods..to keep the road materials in place. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as shouldering file, a kind of file for shaping a shoulder; † shouldering piece, a corbel or a buttress.
| 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 210 Mutuli..Corbeaux, modillons, peeces of timber in building called braggers, or shouldering peeces. 1611 Cotgr., Espaulette,..a buttresse, shore post, or shouldering peece. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 825 French pivot and shouldering files which are small, stout, and have safe-edges. |
▪ II. shouldering, ppl. a.
(ˈʃəʊldərɪŋ)
[f. shoulder v. + -ing2.]
That shoulders.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 335 Thair raiss greit murmour..With sic ane schout, and sic ane schouder and [? read schouderand] schow, That euirilk one that tyme ȝeid other throw. [1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 23 Spring-headed Hydraes, and sea-shouldring Whales.] 1747 Collins Ode to Liberty iii. 16 This pillar'd earth..was push'd aside, And down the shoul'dring billows born. 1824 W. Irving Tales Trav. II. 233 The current is violently compressed between shouldering promontories. 1846 H. G. Robinson Odes of Horace ii. xiii, The shouldering crowd. |