Surveying, Building, etc. The process of levelling or of judging of the straightness of a surface or line by the eye, as by looking along the tops of two straight edges or along a line of poles placed some distance apart; also attrib., as in boning rod, stick, telescope.
1785. Roy, Survey., in Phil. Trans., LXXV. 411. Twenty-four boning rods had been originally provided.
1795. Trigon. Surv., ibid. LXXXV. 477. Using the transit as a boning telescope.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 581. Joiners try up their work by boning with two straight-edges, which determine whether … the surface be twisted or a plane.
1877. Peacock, N. W. Linc. Gloss. (E. D. S.), Boning-stick, a simple instrument used for setting out the depth of drains or other cuttings in the soil.
1886. Blackw. Mag., Sept., 326/1. Spirit level, boning rod and telescope.
