dining, vbl. n.
(ˈdaɪnɪŋ)
[f. dine v. + -ing1.]
1. a. The action of the verb dine; a dinner.
| ? a 1400 Arthur 142 Þere was Vrweyn þe kynge Of scottes at þat dynynge. 1646 Crashaw Poems 212 Whole days and suns devoured with endless dining. c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion (1833) I. viii. 268 This was but the beginning of other dinings and other meetings. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. iii. iii. (1857) II. 227 Dinings with the Girondins. |
| attrib. 1806 Syd. Smith Elem. Sk. Mor. Philos. (1850) 332 Dining and supping virtues. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. xi, Dining repartees and other ephemeral trivialities. |
b. dining-out: dining out of one's own house.
| 1846 R. Ford Gatherings from Spain viii. 84 There we make our home—far from..distant dining-outs, visits, [etc.]. 1861 Wilson & Geikie Mem. E. Forbes iii. 83 Occasional dinings out and tea-drinkings are recorded. 1877 Tyndall in Daily News 2 Oct. 2/4 Faraday..formally renounced dining out. |
2. Comb. with sense ‘used for dining’, as
dining alcove,
dining area,
dining-cap,
dining chair,
dining-hall,
dining-parlour,
dining-place,
dining recess;
† dining-bed, the couch on which the Romans reclined at table (
obs.);
dining-car,
-carriage,
-coach, a railway carriage fitted up for dining on the journey;
dining-chamber = dining-room;
dining-coat U.S., a dinner jacket;
dining-table, a table for dining at;
spec. a rectangular table with legs at the four corners, and capable of enlargement by the insertion of leaves.
| 1937 ‘M. Hillis’ Orchids on Budget (1938) ix. 147 A large living-room with a *dining-alcove. 1961 ‘J. Welcome’ Beware of Midnight ix. 102 The dining alcove in the kitchen where we were breakfasting. |
| 1957 ‘A. Vail’ Love me Little xii. 90 He came into the *dining area (I hate words like that). |
| 1581 Savile Tacitus' Hist. i. lxxxii. (1591) 46 Otho standing vpon his *dining bed..at last..refrained their rage. |
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe (1871) 94 An infant squib of the inns of court, that hath not half greased his *dining-cap, or scarce warmed his lawyer's cushion. |
| 1838 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. VII. 328 The introduction of *dining cars. 1839 Mech. Mag. 5 Jan. 240 (from Baltimore American) All that is wanting now is a dining car. 1892 Kipling Lett. of Travel (1920) 80 He knows when the train will..drop the dining-car. 1959 New Statesman 7 Nov. 610/2 The unofficial strike by railway dining-car workers in protest against the extension of Pullman car services. |
| a 1896 Mod. Advt., First and Third Class *Dining Carriages between London and Glasgow. |
| 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 27 Apr. 20/6 (Advt.), *Dining Chairs,..with shaped head and three slats in back. 1970 Country Life 1 Oct. (Suppl.) 34 (Advt.), [A] set of 8 18th century Walnut Dining Chairs of unusual design. |
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 153 To pawne both my Plate, and the Tapistry of my *dyning Chambers. a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour ii. i, What a great space there is Betwixt Love's dining-chamber, and his garret! |
| 1890 Times (weekly ed.) 1 Mar. 1/3 A *dining coach and two passenger coaches were..forced through the structure. |
| 1907 Lady Grove Social Fetich 152 ‘Tuxedo’, ‘*dining coats’, or ‘dinner jackets’. |
| 1667 J. Lauder Jrnl. Oct. (1900) 172 The *dining hall, a large roome with a great many tables. 1815 View N.Y. State Prison 12 A corresponding room in the south wing is used as a dining-hall. 1870 ‘F. Fern’ Ginger-Snaps 237 Mrs. Fire-Fly..swept into the dining hall in a train about six yards long. |
| 1700 Pepys Let. 22 Feb. (1926) I. 291 Try whether you can recollect enough of my..*dining parlour. 1761 F. Sheridan S. Bidulph II. 317 She asked..why I had not been shewn into the dining-parlour. 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 348 The dining-parlour..might pass for his only sitting room. |
| 1790–1810 W. Combe Devil on 2 Sticks in Eng. (1817) VI. 258 A *dining party in high life. |
| 1906 M. H. Baillie-Scott Houses & Gardens iv. 20 The introduction as an appendage to the hall of a *dining recess. 1959 ‘M. Halliday’ Thicker than Water iv. 40 They would eat in the little dining recess in the kitchen; they seldom used the dining-room when they were on their own. |
| 1594 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1860) 244 [In] the Haull, Towe *dyninge tables. 1875 W. S. Hayward Love agst. World 2 He took the seat at the foot of the dining-table. 1892 Daily News 19 Mar. 7/4 A man used to make anything, but now he is asked whether he is a dining-table maker, a sideboardmaker, and so on. |