▪ I. marking, vbl. n.
(ˈmɑːkɪŋ)
[f. mark v. + -ing1.]
1. a. The action of the verb mark.
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems 15/415 Þe signe his of þis sacrement Mid creyme þe markinge. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 288, I doe confesse much of the hearing of it, but little of the marking of it. 1672 C. Beale in H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 130 Much more..then my heart cou'd with her most carefull marking learn from his painting either this, or Dr. Cradock's picture. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop viii, The art of needle-work, marking, and samplery, [taught] by Miss Jane Wackles. 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. ii. 43 Lamb-tailing and marking were on at this time—the end of June. 1904 Grove's Dict. Mus. I. 14/1 The strong marking of the accent seems to have been only usual in dance music. 1946 F. Davison Dusty iv. 45 He handled lambs at marking time..as gently as if he owned them. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 197/1 Lamb marking consists of three different operations: the placing of a distinguishing mark in one or both ears, the amputation of tails, and the castration of male lambs. |
† b. Manner of marking: notation.
Obs.| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 90 For when they marke tripla of three minimes for a stroke, they doe most vsuallie set these numbers before it 3/2: which is the true marking of sesqui altera. |
c. With
advs.,
freq. in
attrib. uses.
| 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 37/1 The very marking out of the Platform ought to be done under proper Auspices. 1894 W. J. Lineham Text-bk. Mech. Engin. vi. 183 (heading) Marking-off, machining, fitting and erecting. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 24 Mar. 10/3 A marking-down process was also indulged in in anticipation of selling by speculators and profit-taking. 1917 [see assembly 1 b]. 1948 R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Dict. 451/2 Marking-off platers work to drawings supplied from the drawing office and information given from the mold loft. 1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes i. 36 A typical marking-out table is shown. Ibid. 39 This mild-steel clamp is machined to length, width, and thickness prior to marking-out. 1966 J. H. Dixon tr. Dormidontov's Shipbuilding Technol. v. 115 A template work⁓shop..fitted with optical marking apparatus and a marking-off table. |
d. Stock Exchange. The recording of prices at which bargains are made.
| 1903 Pitman's Business Man's Guide 305/1 Marking,..on the Stock Exchange this signifies the recording of the prices at which actual business has been done in any security between the hours of eleven and three. 1930 Economist 22 Mar. 653/1 Dealings begin, the marking of bargains is effected in one or other of the Stock Exchange Daily Lists, [etc.]. 1934 F. E. Armstrong Bk. Stock Exchange iii. 52 The marking of bargains in the Official and Supplementary Lists is..the record of business actually transacted, and provides an index to an established price level. 1959 Times 7 Apr. 10/6, 20,451 separate bargains were recorded. This is the highest total reached since the ‘marking’ of bargains was inaugurated. 1971 T. G. Goff Theory & Pract. Investment v. 53 A symbol beside a marking may indicate that there is some unusual feature about the underlying deal. |
† 2. Notice, consideration.
Obs.| 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. Ep. Ded., Doth it not deserue diligent marking and remembring? 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 171 But it is worth the marking, how things appointed to befall us are by no means to be auoided. |
3. concr. A mark or pattern of marks, natural or artificial.
| 1382 Wyclif Kings Prol. p. 2 The Lamentaciouns of Jeremye..with the same abicees or markyngis ben noumbrid [L. iisaem alphabetis vel incisionibus supputantur]. 1641 [see marl v.1 3]. 1803 Montague Ornith. Dict. (1831) 326 These birds are subject to some variety in markings. 1837 Goring & Pritchard Microgr. 162 No one who..did not know there actually were lines or markings upon it, would suspect their existence. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. (1896) I. 42 Eggs..exactly like those of the Goldfinch in size and markings. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
marking brush,
marking pencil;
† marking axe, an axe used by foresters for marking trees;
marking board, (
a) a board constructed to register the score in certain games; (
b) a board in the Stock Exchange upon which transactions are posted;
marking cotton (see
quot. 1882);
marking flag, a flag used by soldiers for marking a position;
† marking fruit = marking nut;
marking-gauge = gauge n. 11;
marking ink, (
a) an indelible ink used for marking linen, etc.; (
b) a mixture used for marking packing-cases and the like with a stencil or otherwise;
† marking instrument = next;
marking iron, (
a) a branding iron; (
b) see
quot. 1747;
marking-nut, the fruit of the tree
Semecarpus Anacardium, the juice of which makes an indelible black stain on linen, etc.;
marking-nut tree, an Indian tree which bears the marking-nut;
marking-plough (see
quot. 1805);
marking-pot, a vessel containing paint for stencilling packages;
marking stitch, a stitch used in marking linen, etc.;
† marking-stone, an earthy stone used for marking cattle, etc.;
marking wheels, two wheels attached to a sowing drill to regulate the distance between the rows;
† marking-yarn (see
quot. 1744).
| 1384–5 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 390 Pro j *m'kyngax, xvjd. |
| 1856 ‘Crawley’ Billiards (1859) 4 A..Thurston table, cues, balls, and *marking board, all complete. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 26 Sept. 9/1 [Stock Exchange.] The marking board should be above suspicion. |
| 1855 ‘Q. K. P. Doesticks’ Doesticks, what he Says xxii. 198 A dry-goods box with a *marking brush sticking out of the top of it. 1882 M. H. Foote Led-Horse Claim xvii. 228 He..swept, with one stroke of his marking-brush, a black circle around the figures. |
| 1805 E. S. Bowne in Scribner's Mag. II. 180/2, I enclose the *marking cotton. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, Marking Cotton, an ingrain coloured sewing cotton, to be had in Turkey-red and blue, and sold in small balls and reels. |
| 1901 Kipling Kim xiii. 343 The Babu, the slack of his thin gear snapping like a *marking-flag in the chill breeze, stood by. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 722/2 *Marking fruit, Semecarpus Anacardium. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Marking-gage. |
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4719/4 Shopkeepers common Writing or *Marking Ink. 1819 Brande Chem. 315 Nitrate of silver..is employed for writing upon linen, under the name of indelible or marking ink. 1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge xvii. II. 21 It won't wash out any more than that marking-ink. |
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P. R. xvi. vii. (1495) 557 A *merkynge instrument [L. cauterium] of syluer kepyth from stynkynge: and comfortyth feble membres. |
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1163 Here most be *markyng yrons for oure beestis, And toolis forto gelde, and clippe, and shere. 1538 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 425 A markyng irne to brene a convyct clerke. 1682 2nd Plea for Nonconf. 51 Let them receive from us some Tokens of Affection, and not be burnt with the Marking-irons of Anger. 1747 H. Glasse Cookery viii. 75 Shape your Upper-crust..and mark it with a Marking-iron for that purpose, in what Shape you please, to be hollow and open to see the Fruit through. |
| 1756 Ellis in Phil. Trans. XLIX. 873 They are known all over India by the name of *Marking-nuts. |
| 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 128 Semecarpus anacardium, the *marking nut-tree of commerce. |
| 1886 *Marking pencil [see B, BB, BBB (B III)]. 1961 Lebende Sprachen VI. 70/1 Marking pencil. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 13 The *Marking-Plough is an useful instrument for the purpose of straightening, as well as regulating the distance of ridges, where the practice of drilling is in use. |
| 1868 M. H. Smith Sunshine & Shadow in N. York 252 They did the hard work, swept out the stores, made the fires, used the *marking-pot. |
| 1861 Mrs. Stowe Pearl of Orr's Island I. xvii. 152, I was going to begin and teach her some *marking stitches. 1880 Plain Hints Needlework 22 The real marking stitch, called in old times ‘Brave Bred’ stitch,..lasts longer. |
| 1545 Rates Custome Ho. b vij b, *Markynge stone the pounde iiii.d. 1676 Worlidge Cyder 51 It is good with a Marking-Stone or piece of Chalk..to mark one coast of every Tree. |
| 1793 Tull Horse-Hoeing Husb. xxiii. 381 To a Drill that plants upon the Level, *Marking Wheels are necessary. |
| 1744 Rigging & Seamanship 55 *Marking-yarn, a white thread, untarred, laid in rope for the king's or East-India Company's mark. |
Add:
[4.] marking pen.
| 1956 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 4 Dec. tm5/2 Felt tip marking pens..having felt tips at their ends for marking. 1994 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) 6 May (State ed.) 1b/6 During an unusual two-month investigation..officers seized marking pens and shoe polish and observed suspects comparing sketches of proposed graffiti. |
▪ II. marking, ppl. a. (
ˈmɑːkɪŋ)
[f. mark v. + -ing2.] † 1. Observing, observant.
Obs.| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. I. 178/2 It would make a diligent and marking reader both muse and moorne. c 1580 Sidney Ps. i. i, Night and day he calls [Gods law] to marking mind. 1605 Camden Rem. 213 Whosoever will with a marking eie consider [etc.]. |
† 2. Expressive.
Obs. (Quot. 1766 may belong to sense 1.)
| 1766 Life of Quin i. 5 He had..an expressive countenance; a marking eye; a clear voice. 1778 F. Burney Diary Sept., He has repeatedly asked me to read a tragedy to him,..and when I ask him why, he says I have such a marking face. |
3. Mil. That marks (see
mark v. 10).
| 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 32 The horses heads of the line, and of the marking persons will then touch. Ibid., When divisions come up..successively into line, they come up to the horses heads of the marking persons. |
4. That characterizes or accentuates.
| 1795 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 319 What you are to say of the character..of a man, must..consist rather of a few light marking touches than of a long discussion. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian ii. (1824) 541 A full sense of the value of birth is a marking feature in the characters of the Marchese and Marchesa di Vivaldi. 1884 Athenæum 30 Aug. 271/1 The tragic story of Saigo Kichinosuke's despair and death..for all time must be the marking incident of its history. |
Hence
† ˈmarkingly adv., attentively.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iv. (1598) 404 Pyrocles markingly hearkened to all that Dametas said. |