▪ I. ˈsandpaper, n. (and a.)
Also with hyphen and as two words.
[f. sand n.2]
1. a. Paper upon which a layer of sand has been fixed by means of an adhesive, used chiefly for smoothing or polishing woodwork by abrasion.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 641 The surface of the work [must] be carefully rubbed down with sand-paper. 1850 Holtzapffel Turning, etc. III. 1091 Sand Paper is made with the common house sand, and only of one degree of coarseness, but in other respects exactly like glass paper. 1877 Huxley Physiogr. ix. 134 The sand and finer particles..scour the walls..as effectually as though they were well rubbed with fine sand-paper. |
b. fig. Chiefly attrib. or as adj., rough, abrasive, aggressive.
| 1953 ‘N. Blake’ Dreadful Hollow ii. xi. 145 The voice which had that sandpaper timbre of the overdriven. 1976 Time 20 Dec. 22/1 With his sandpaper style and naked drive for power, Burton had quite a few enemies. |
2. attrib. and Comb., as sandpaper maker; sandpaper stick, a shoemaker's tool for finishing the soles of boots; sandpaper tree, a name for several tropical trees, the rough leaves of which are used by the natives for polishing (see quots.).
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 917 Examples of which [sc. dermatitis] are seen in the case of stone-cutters, *sand-paper makers [etc.]. |
| 1882 Worc. Exhib. Catal. (ed. 2) 240 The Shoemaker's ‘buff knife and *sandpaper stick’. |
| 1863 Speke Discov. Nile 567 The *sand-paper tree [Kigelia pinnata], whose leaves resemble a cat's tongue in roughness. 1866 Treas. Bot., Sandpaper-tree, Curatella americana. 1882 J. Smith Dict. Pop. Names Plants 367 Sandpaper Trees—Dillenia scabrella and D. sarmentosa,..natives of India. |
Hence ˈsandpapery a., resembling sandpaper, rough.
| 1957 V. Nabokov Pnin 22 The sandpapery side of his head. 1970 E. McGirr Death pays Wages iii. 53 He..massaged a sand-papery jaw. 1975 T. Allbeury Special Collection xi. 77 His hand was dry and sandpapery. |
▪ II. ˈsandpaper, v.
[f. prec.]
trans. To smooth with or as with sandpaper; also with down.
| 1846 Mrs. Gore Eng. Char. (1852) 122 The body-coachman..caused himself to be..sandpapered and scrubbed into presentability. 1869 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xii, Surely the..smooth..turnpikes are jack-planed and sand-papered every day. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 221 The whole is then sand-papered down thoroughly. |
Hence ˈsandpaperer; ˈsandpapering vbl. n.
| 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 60 Tobacco Pipe Making:..Sand Paperer or Scourer. 1885 J. B. Leno Boot & Shoemaking xxiv. 199 Sand-papering Machine. |
Add: b. fig. To bring to perfection, to refine.
| 1890 in Cent. Dict. 1927 Daily Tel. 21 June 13/7 Borotra was wisely sand-papering his ground strokes; there was much rust on them. 1947 P. Larkin Girl in Winter ii. i. 91 And therefore this reserve, this sandpapering of every word and gesture until it exactly fitted its place in the conversation..—this was not natural. 1956 O. Welles Mr. Arkadin ii. i. 96, I started on a series of interviews which I conducted conscientiously, and which, sandpapered by an impoverished young writer, were published with some success. |