Forms: Plural. α. 2 wenge; β. 3 wengen, winguene, wynguene, whingen, hwingen, 4 wingen, wyngen, -yn, -on; γ. 3–5 wenges, (3 Orm. -ess), 4 weengus, 4–5 wengis, 4, 6 weyngis, 5 wengys, -ez, weingis, wengges; 4 wyenges, wingges, whinges, 4–6 wyngis, -es, 5 -ys, whyngis, -ys, 5–6 whynges, 5, 6–7 Sc. wingis, 6–7 -es, 6– wings. Sing. 4–5 wenge, 5 weng, whenge, weynge, 5–6 Sc. weyng, 6 Sc. weing; 4–6 wynge, 4–7 winge, 5–6 wyng, whyng(e, 6 whing, wynke, 6– wing. [ME., first in pl. forms wenge, wengen, wenges, a. ON. vængir, acc. vængi, pl. of vængr (Sw., Da. vinge) wing of a bird, aisle, etc.; replacing OE. feþra wings, pl. of feþer, and fiþere (see FEATHER sb. 3).]
I. 1. Each of the organs of flight of any flying animal, as a bird, bat, or insect.
In birds the wings are specially modified fore-limbs; in bats (and the extinct pterodactyls, etc.), extensions of the skin attached to modified parts of the fore-limbs (see BAT sb. 1); in insects, membranous expansions attached to the thorax in addition to the limbs. In a few birds the wings are rudimentary, and either functionless (as in the Apteryx) or used only to assist in swimming or walking (as in Penguins).
Occas. loosely applied to the enlarged fins of flying-fishes and to the appendages of flying squirrels, etc., which serve for movements resembling flight.
Bastard or false wing (Ornith.) = WINGLET 2 b.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 81. A vuhel com flon from houene into orðe; her he uette feþer-home and wenge.
c. 1205. Lay., 29263. Þat alle heore [sc. sparrows’] whingen noht awemmed neoren.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 130. Ase brid hwon hit wule vleon stureð his hwingen.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., 64/356. He ȝifht eov … wynguene for-to fleo, And feþerene to beren eov up-on heiȝ. Ibid., 230/388. Þe drem of is winguene murie was.
13[?]. K. Alis., 485. Him thoughte a goshauk with gret flyght … yenith and sprad abrod his wyngyn.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 173. The Scharnebudes kinde, Of whos nature this I finde, That in the hoteste of the dai,… He sprat his wynge and up he fleth.
a. 1400. Leg. Rood, 221. Þe Egle is frikest fowle in flye, Ouer all fowles to wawe hys wenge.
c. 1425. Seven Sag. (P.), 2196. The byrde … bylle undyr wynge layede.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 18521. Wonder hygh ther sate a krowe, His whynges splayynge to and ffro.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 522/1. Wenge, or a fowle or bryde.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, III. 7. On fute and weynge ascendand to the hycht.
1513. Bk. Keruynge, in Babees Bk., 278. That all maner of fowle that hath hole fete sholde be reysed vnder the wynge, and not aboue.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, VI. lxxxi. 762. The fruite [of the maple tree] is long, flat, and thinne, almost lyke to a feather of a small birde, or lyke the whing of a grashopper.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., III. vi. § 12. There are Fishes that have Wings.
1725, 1807. [see BAT sb.1 1].
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. iii. The beautiful little blue butterfly with golden spots on his wings.
1867. W. S. Dallas, trans. Nitzsch’s Pterylogr., 27. The false wing (ala notha) described by Möhring.
1888. Goode, Amer. Fishes, 304. The genus Prionotus … resembles Dactylopterus in general form, but the wings are much smaller.
1912. S. E. White, Land of Footprints, xiv. 193. Spreading wide their wings at the last moment to check their speed.
b. The wing of a bird, used as food. Also, the shoulder of a hare or rabbit.
c. 1470. Noble Bk. Cookry (1882), 64. Cony rost. A cony tak and drawe hym,… rost hym and lard hym then raise his leggs and hys winges.
a. 1530. Frere & Boye (Ritson), 154. His fader toke a capons wynge,… And badde hym ete apace.
1598. Bp. Hall, Sat., IV. iv. 29. A pestle of a Larke, or Plouers wing.
1656. Osborn, Adv. Son, iv. (ed. 4), 124. A Carver at Court,… who being laughed at … for saying The wing of a Rabbet, maintained it as congruous, as the fore-legge of a Capon, a phrase used in Scotland.
1746. Francis, trans. Hor., Sat., II. iv. 56. Wise palates choose the wings of pregnant hare.
1820. Byron, Blues, II. 42. Miss Lilac, permit me to help you;—a wing?
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xlvi. Something light for supper—the wing of a roasted fowl.
1841. ‘Nimrod,’ in Sporting Oracle, 48. The most vulnerable part of the rabbit is about its neck and wings, as the shoulders of this animal are called.
c. The wing of a bird (usually of a hen, goose or turkey) used as a brush: cf. next, 7.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 35. Husbandlie furniture … Wing, cartnaue and bushel.
1641. Best, Farm. Bks. (Surtees), 67. Then are the two women to have each of them a cleane bowle to wringe the honey into, and the man is to stande ready with a winge in his hande.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 243/2. Broom, Wing, Winnow sheet, and Sack with a Band.
1710. Hilman, Tusser Rediv., Sept. (1744), 116. A Straw-fork and Rake to turn the Straw off from the thresh’d Corn, a Fan and Wing to clean it.
d. A figure or imitation of a wing (e.g., on an image of a bird, etc., or on an angler’s artificial fly).
1552–3. in Feuillerat, Revels Edw. VI. (1914), 94. Cupide a small boye … with a payre of winges of gold.
1584. Kenilw. Inv., in Scott, Kenilw., Note K. 6 rowlers and ij wings for the spreade eagle.
1633. G. Herbert, Temple, Easter Wings [title of a poem in the form of two pairs of wings].
1682. Dryden, Mac Flecknoe, 207. Chuse for thy Command Some peaceful Province in Acrostick Land; There thou may’st Wings display, and Altars raise, And torture one poor Word ten thousand Ways.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 58, ¶ 4, 6. Short poems…, which resemble the Figure of an Egg, a Pair of Wings, [etc.]. Ibid. The Pair of Wings consist of twelve Verses, or rather Feathers.
1853. J. Jackson, Pract. Fly-Fisher (1880), 10. To make a winged Fly…. Wings; a piece of feather, stripped from a Snipe’s quill.
† e. With qualification (goose-wing, fly’s wing) used as a type of something of no value. Obs.
1377, 1549. [see GOOSE-WING 1].
c. 1450. Mankind, 783, in Macro Plays, 29. Tysche! a flyes weynge!
2. a. Attributed to supernatural beings, as angels, demons, etc., and to fabulous creatures, as dragons, griffins, etc.
c. 1200. Ormin, 8024. Þatt all þatt hallȝhe genge, þatt borrȝhenn iss þurrh marrtirdom, Flæh upp wiþþ tweȝȝenn wengess.
13[?]. Sir Beues (A.), 2675. Whan hit schon þe briȝte sonne, His wingges schon so þe glas.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. vi. 2.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., Prol. 236. And aungellych hyse wengis gan he sprede. Ibid. (c. 1386), Knt.’s T., 1106. Biforn hire stood hir sone Cupido, Vp on his shuldres wynges hadde he two.
14[?]. Sir Beues (Pynson), 2527. Beuys … byt the dragon vnder the wynge.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, III. iv. 34. The Harpyes on ws fell, With huge faird of weingis and mony ȝell.
1671. Milton, P. R., IV. 582. A fiery Globe Of Angels on full sail of wing flew nigh.
1815. Byron, Destr. Sennacherib, iii. The Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast.
1821. Wordsw., Eccles. Sonn., III. v. 4. The feather, whence the pen Was shaped that traced the lives of these good men, Dropped from an Angel’s wing.
1885. Hardy, Changed Man, Mere Interlude (1913), 269. Since my poor husband left me to wear his wings.
b. Attributed to inanimate or abstract things represented as flying, or as carrying one swiftly along (esp. in phr. on the wings of).
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., II. i. (Add. MS. 27944). In olde tyme poetes peyntide þe winde wiþ wynges.
c. 1510. More, Picus, E j b. Whynges of the loue of God.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. ciii[i]. 3. Thou makest the cloudes thy charet, and goest vpon the wynges of the wynde. Ibid., Ps. cxxxviii[i]. 9. Yf I take the wynges of the mornynge. Ibid., Prov. xxiii. 5. Riches make them selues wynges.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 106. When I should mount with wings of Victory. Ibid. (1598), Merry W., II. ii. 209. I haue pursu’d her, as Loue hath pursued mee, which hath beene on the wing of all occasions.
1608. [Tofte], Ariosto’s Sat., I. (1611), 11. With inke To giue his fame large wings.
1611. Sir W. Mure, Misc. Poems, iv. 8. Deceau’d by loues alluiring wingis.
1665. Boyle, Occas. Refl., I. i. 7. When a pious Soul is once got upon the wing of Contemplation.
1704. Prior, Celia to Damon, 40. Upon the Wings of Time born swift away.
1709. Watts, Hymn. Give me the Wings of Faith, to rise Within the Veil.
1829. Scott, Rob Roy, Introd. 2nd half. A cold north-east wind, with frost on its wing.
1837. W. Irving, Capt. Bonneville, II. xix. 35. Where the foe … seems to come and go on the wings of the wind.
1873. Burton, Hist. Scot., VI. lxxii. 307. [The Scots in 1640] seemed to be, indeed, carried forward on the wings of destiny.
3. transf. and fig. a. Power or means of flight, or of action figured as flight; action or manner of flying, flight. (a) in reference to literal flying.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XII. 263. Þe larke, þat is … wel awey of wenge [v.rr. wynge, whenge] swifter þan þe pecok.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 328. A Swalwe swift of winge.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 316. The self same place where hee First lighted from his Wing.
1706. Prior, Ode to Queen, v. Upward the Noble Bird directs his Wing.
1709. T. Robinson, Nat. Hist. Westmld., x. 60. As soon as the young Brood gets wing.
1877. Conder, Basis of Faith, v. 225. The bird of strongest wing may be driven out to sea by the tempest.
(b) fig. in various connections. (See also III.)
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 132. Auh þe treowe ancren þet we efneð to briddes … Heo spreðeð hore hwingen, ant makieð a creoiz of ham suluen.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter cxxxviii. 7. Take twa wenges of charite.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 473. He ordeynede godis of vertu wyngis to men to fle to heuene.
1418. 26 Pol. Poems, xiv. 47. To fliȝe to hye, treste not þy wyng.
1590. Nashe, Pasquil’s Apologie, C 4. Other excellent points I could … pinch him with to the like purpose, were I not contented to strike the winge, and come downe to his capacitie.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., IV. vii. 79. Knowledge the Wing wherewith we flye to heauen. Ibid. (1596), 1 Hen. IV., III. ii. 30. Thy affections which doe hold a wing Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
1648. G. Daniel, Eclog., i. 120. You have a wing of Strength, might toure into The purest Region fancie breaths.
1670. Dryden, 1st Pt. Conq. Granada, V. ii. Give wing to your desires, and let ’em fly.
1749. Smollett, Gil Blas, X. x. (1816), 307/2. Every thing they said to me seemed to lend me wings to run away.
1830. Scott, Monast., Introd. When the peculiar kind of folly keeps the wing no longer.
1849. J. Hare, Serm., II. iv. 80. In old times,… many stories got wing.
b. In biblical and derived expressions referring to a mother bird’s use of her wings for the protection of her young (cf. esp. Matt. xxiii. 37); thus virtually = protecting care. (See also 15 a.)
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter xvi[i]. 8. Hile me under schadou of þi wenges twa.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxiii. 7. Vnder the shadowe of thy wynges wil I reioyse.
1567. Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 107. His [sc. God’s] wingis ar thy weirlie weid, His pennis ar thy strang defence.
1719. Young, Revenge, IV. i. Why did I leave my tender father’s wing, And venture into love?
1883. D. C. Murray, Hearts, xxxiii. Azubah, once more under the shelter of her aunt’s wing.
4. transf. a. In phr. of (such-and-such) wing, used, like feather = kind or description of bird (usually fig.). Obs. exc. in echoes of Ezek. xvii. 23.
1598. R. Bernard, trans. Terence, Phormio, I. v. All alike: all feathered of one wing [orig. omnes congruont]: knowe one, and know all.
1601. Shaks., Phœnix, iii. From this Session interdict Euery foule of tyrant wing, Saue the Eagle feath’red King.
1608. Dekker, Belman of London (ed. 2), D 2. Of all the mad Rascalls (that are of this wing) the Abraham-man is the most fantastick.
1608. D. T[uvill], Ess. Pol. & Mor., 90 b. A prying eye, a listning eare, and a prating tongue, are all birds of one wing.
1611. Bible, Ezek. xvii. 23. All Soule of euery wing.
1630. Pathomachia, IV. ii. 35. Here is another Bird of the same Wing I beleeue.
b. Qualified by a restrictive word, or in technical phr., = bird or birds.
1601. Shaks., Phœnix, i. Let the bird of lowdest lay … Herauld sad and trumpet be: To whose sound chaste wings obay.
1725. Pope, Odyss., II. 188. The Prince of Augurs … drew A sure presage from ev’ry wing that flew.
1840. R. Bremner, Excurs. Denmark, etc. I. 293. We did not wonder to see scarcely a single wing of game in a whole day’s journey.
1874. Kennel Club Stud Bk., p. xii. He does not lose one [point] for each fault, providing it is simply not dropping to wing or shot.
c. A flock (of plover).
1805. A. Mackintosh, Driffield Angler, 294. Wing of plover.
II. 5. An appliance or appendage resembling or analogous to a wing in form or function.
a. An artificial apparatus attached to the human arms or shoulders, (a) according to early accounts, for flying through the air, (b) for assistance in swimming. b. One of the floats of a water-wheel or sails of a windmill. c. Poetically or rhetorically applied to the sails of a ship. (See also white wings s.v. WHITE a. 11 e.) d. Various: see quots.: spec. one of the planes of an aeroplane; also transf. (pl.) in the Royal Air Force, a certificate of ability to pilot an aeroplane, indicated by the addition to the uniform of a badge representing a pair of wings.
a. 1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 671. Vor þat men ssolde is enchantement se, He let him makie wengen [v.rr. wyngon, wingen, wynges, whyngys] an hei vor to fle.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, i. (Petrus), 562. [Symon Magus] passit vpe, and his weyngis dycht,… And flaw, as he a foule had bene.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 37. This Dedalus … Hath mad to fle diverse wynges For him and for his Sone also.
1742. Pope, Dunc., IV. 452. The head that turns at super-lunar things, Pois’d with a tail, may steer on Wilkins’ wings.
1908. Daily Chron., 29 July, 5/6. Being unable to swim he had made use of a pair of swimming wings.
b. 1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, V. x. For the swyftnesse of the water he must nedes passe under the whele of the mylle, And god wote yf the wynges of the mylle bete hym wel or not.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. x. 44 b. Windmilles, hauing euery one of them 10. wings.
1609. W. Biddulph, in Lavender’s Trav., 15. There are very many wind milles there, hauing ten wings a piece.
1681. Owen, Inq. conc. Evang. Ch., ii. 16. To render the Gospel-Church-State a Machin … to be turned unto any Interest like the Wings of a Mill unto the Wind.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Sails,… Windmill-wings.
1773. W. Emerson, Princ. Mech. (ed. 3), 284. Wing,… as the hands in a water wheel; a part of a sail, &c.
a. 1866. C. W. Hatfield, Hist. Notices Doncaster, Ser. I. 203. The wings of some of these [windmills] describe a circuit of 100 feet diameter.
c. 1596. Shaks., Merch. V., I. i. 14. Your Argosies with portly saile … As they flye by them with their wouen wings.
1735. Somerville, Chase, II. 222. All their Canvass Wings.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., I. xiii. While flew the vessel on her snowy wing.
1833. Mrs. Browning, Prometh. Bound, 543. The seaman’s chariots, wandering on the brine With linen wings.
1878. Joaquin Miller, Songs of Italy, 29. The yellow wide wings of a bark.
d. 1796. Grose’s Dict. Vulg. T. (ed. 3), Pair of Wings, oars. Cant.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, I. 17. There are rockets made without sticks. Fix to the small ones … four wings, in the nature of arrow-feathers.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 159. The use of wings, rudders, oars,… to direct the course of a balloon.
1823. Egan, Grose’s Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), Wings, arms.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Wing … 2. A vane of a rotating fan…. 10. (Milling.) A strip, commonly of leather, attached to the skirt of the runner to sweep the meal into the spout.
1910. R. Ferris, How It Flies, 17. Aeroplanes are those forms of flying machines which depend for their support in the air upon the spread of surfaces which are variously called wings, sails, or planes.
1918. J. T. B. McCudden, 5 Yrs. R. F. C., I. i. 1. He had done very well, having taken his Royal Aero Club Certificate as an aeroplane pilot, and having qualified for his R.F.C. wings in July of 1912.
6. A lateral part or appendage: in various connections. (See also senses 7–11.)
a. A lateral or outlying portion of a space or region. b. Something forming a lateral boundary, as the side wall of a dock, sluice, chimney, etc.; also, a lateral component, extension, or complement of a structure, etc., e.g., either of the retaining walls at the ends of a bridge. c. A side piece (usually projecting), a lateral projection or member (in various tools, pieces of mechanism, or other structures: see quots.); spec. the part of a plowshare that extends sideways and cuts the bottom of the furrow. d. A projecting part of a fishing-net on one side of the main or central part. e. In a carriage, each of a pair of curved pieces extending over the wheels to provide protection from the splashing of mud; the mudguard of a motor vehicle. f. Each of two side pieces at the top of an arm-chair against which the head may be rested.
a. a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 1051. An-other wynge of þe werld.
1794. Morse, Amer. Geog., 491. On the north end it subsides gradually into extensive pasture grounds; while on the south it slopes more steeply in a shorter distance…. On either wing is a thick grove of … forest trees.
1864. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., XI. ii. (1873), IV. 36. Königsberg, Preussen, the easternmost outlying wing of his long straggling Dominions.
1874. Blackie, Lett. to Wife (1909), 228. The Hill of Howth, forming the north wing of the bay of Dublin.
1920. Westm. Gaz., 16 June, 10/1. His fore-hand return across court off the service into the right-hand wing of his opponent’s base line.
b. c. 1482. J. Kay, trans. Caoursin’s Siege of Rhodes, ¶ 10 (1870). A place … by the weste banke of Rhodes: which maked with her walles and wynges a pleasaunt hauen … and ys called the tour of Seynt Nycholas.
1531. Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII., V. 180. Settyng the wynkes of the said slewse new made.
1663. Charleton, Chorea Gigantum, 24. The outward Circle or wing of stones [of Stonehenge].
1703. T. N., City & C. Purchaser, 107. An apt falling-back of the Back, and convenient gathering of the Wings, and Brest of the Chimney.
1715. Desaguliers, Fires Impr., 128. You may on each side [of the chimney] raise a Wing of Plaister.
1721. Leoni, Palladio’s Archit., I. 67. The Wings (that is, the spaces between the Wall and the Columns, which is not comprehended in the breadth of the Atrium). Ibid. (1726), Alberti’s Archit., I. 14. All this Wing of Wall … is exposed as a Butt to the … Blasts of the North-East.
1821. Rich, Journ. Persepolis, 27 Aug. The mountains … form a wing of stupendous perpendicular cliffs.
1850. Parker, Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5), I. 206. Fillet,… a small flat face or band used principally between mouldings, to separate them from each other in classical architecture…. When this appendage is … attached to the sides [of the moulding, it is called] its wings.
1851. B’ham & Midl. Gardeners’ Mag., April, 38. Many fine trees which have … become unsightly … by losing whole wings at a time.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Wing … A lateral extension of an abutment…. A leaf of a gate or double door…. A side dam on a river shore to contract the channel.
1895. Daily News, 14 March, 3/5. Tribune, the winner of the Beaudesert Steeplechase, was objected to for jumping the wing of one of the fences.
c. 1577. Googe, trans. Heresbach’s Husb., I. 21. They haue a litle wyng on the ryght syde of the Coulter, whiche wyng is to be remooued to whiche syde you list.
1597. A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 15 b/1. The winges of the Trepane, which delicatelye and easilye cut.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 286/2. The Feathers or Fly, or Wing [of a spinning-wheel] is that which the crooked Wyres are set in.
1707. Mortimer, Husb., 42. Some place on the right side of the Coulter a small Wing or Finn.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, etc., 346. The wings or vanes revolve from 120 to 150 times in the minute.
1842. J. Aiton, Dom. Econ. (1857), 166. This second spade is provided with an iron wing upon its shaft, by which the digger … forces it with his foot into the ground.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Sinker … (Knitting-machine). A wheel with thin plates or projections, called wings,… used to depress (sink) the yarn between the needles.
1902. P. Marshall, Metal Working Tools, 13. The legs [of wing compasses] … when opened to the required width are secured by means of the thumb-screw which binds on to the projecting wing.
d. 1678. Act 30 Chas. II., c. 9 § 1. Above Fifty yards in length and Six yards in breadth or depth in the wing of the Nett.
1883. Fisheries Exhib. Catal., 295. A Tench Weel without wings … An Eel Weel, with loose pits and wings.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. s.v. Stake-net, The salmon, swimming up the current, come in contact with the bar-net, and turning to pass around it, find themselves opposed by the wing.
e. 1783. Morn. Chron., 14 March, 4/2. Advt., A new roomy Gig, with head to take off, wings, and new harness.
1794. W. Felton, Carriages (1801), I. 204. Wings are fixed to the sides or elbows of the chaise bodies…; their use is to form a rest for the arm, and shelter the passenger from the dirt which splashes from the wheels.
1881. J. W. Burgess, Coach-bldg., v. 50. The wings … sometimes still are of wood, in which case they are hooped to the perch by iron hoops.
f. 1907. G. O. Wheeler, Old Engl. Furniture, 190. The wings formed by the arm enclosures were padded.
1911. F. M. Crawford, Uncanny Tales, Deadly Smile, ii. She used to sleep sitting all bent together in a great old leathern arm-chair with wings.
7. Either of the two divisions (right wing, left wing) on each side of the main body or center of an army or fleet in battle array; also, each of the two divisions of a regiment or an air force.
c. 1400. Brut, ccxxiii. 283. Þe Scottis comen ferseliche in iiij wengus. Ibid., 285. Þo hade euery Englisshe bataile ij wenges of pris Archiers.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VIII. xvi. 2520. A noþir weynge þai saw cum sone Off Inglis men.
c. 1500. Melusine, 230. Anthony … ordeyned archers & crosbowes to be vnder the wynges of hys batayll.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxxx. 64/2. Therle of Northampton & therle of Arundell with the second batell were on a wyng in good order.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Macc. ix. 16. When they which were of the lefte wynge, sawe that the right side was discomfited.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 333. Wee did presently battell-wise cast our selues into a Wing, as if we had been the Turkish Gallies.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 617. Their doubl’d Ranks they bend From Wing to Wing.
c. 1720. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier, II. 294. The Armies coming close up, the Wings engaged first.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1776), s.v., Wings are also the skirts or extremities of a fleet when it is ranged into a line a-breast.
1844. H. H. Wilson, Brit. India, III. 149. The European divisions were directed severally against the left and right wings.
1868. Queen’s Reg. & Ord. Army, ¶ 300. When the Service Companies of a Regiment happen to be divided into Wings, the head Quarter wing will assign a due proportion of the Mess necessaries for the use of the other wing.
1915. C. G. Grey, Tales of Flying Services, 71. One of the chief duties of this ‘wing,’ as it was officially called, was to look out for Zeppelins or other airships.
b. In football and similar games: The position of the forwards on either side of the center; a player or players occupying this position.
1889. Field, 5 Jan., 29/3. [Hockey] The left wings played to each other well, and the backs … were seen at their best.
1898. J. Goodall, Assoc. Football, 38. Suddenly there will be a swift clear side-kick to the other wing.
c. A section of a political or other party, holding views deviating in one direction or the other from those generally held (often distinguished as left or right).
[Cf. quot. 1670 s.v. RIGHT a. 18.]
1845. Daily Madisonian, 14 March, 2/1. We hope it may be one that has never given, and is never likely to give, offence to any section or ‘wing’ of the great Republican party.
1879. Froude, Cæsar, xiii. 186. There is always a disreputable wing to the radical party.
1884. Christian Commonw., 21 Feb., 449/1. The democratic wing of the Tory party, of which Lord Randolph Churchill aspires to be the leader.
1898. [see LEFT a. 3 b].
8. One of a pair of lateral projecting pieces of a garment on or near the shoulder, as of a doublet; also, a side-flap of a cap, etc.; in military uniform, a kind of epaulette (now worn by bandsmen) which stands out from the seam at the top of the shoulder.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy, III. 67. Þer wer … Vauntbras with wynges, & rerebras þer-to.
1557. in Dugdale, Orig. Jurid., lxx. (1666), 310. That none of the Companions except Knights or Benchers … wear … Wings in their Gowns.
1604. Dekker, Meeting of Gallants, B 2. There is as much perill betweene the wings and the skirts of one of their Doublets, as in all the liberties of London.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 94/2. The Wings, are Welts or peeces set over the place on the top of the Shoulders, where the Body and Sleeves are set together.
1703. Rules of Civility, 56. If short Sleeves be worn, she [who pushes fashion to an extreme] will have nothing but Wings.
1810. Army Gen. Order, 19 Feb. Field Officers … are to wear Wings in addition to their Epaulettes.
1834. L. Ritchie, Wand. Seine, 139. A linen cap with large wings which concealed the face.
1844. Queen’s Regul. & Ord. Army, 152. The whole of the remaining Clothing (with the exception of the wings and fringe).
1869. Blackie, Lett. to Wife (1909), 181. A sort of spencer open in the middle, with two wings, one on each breast.
† b. pl. The armpits. nonce-use. (Cf. L. ala.)
1586. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., I. 470. He tooke hir with both his armes by the wings [orig. les aisselles].
9. a. A subordinate part of a building on one side of the main or central part.
spec. in Fortification: see quot. 1704.
1523. Wolsey, in St. Papers Hen. VIII., VI. 209. Who with his armye was … loged in the country in thre wardes and sundry winges.
1613–39. I. Jones, in Leoni, Palladio’s Archit. (1742), II. 46. This Edifice … has … two Wings.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 10 Oct. 1683. The Court at entrie, and wings for officers seeme too neere the streete.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Wings, in Fortification, are the large Sides of Horn-works, Crown-works, Tenailles, and the like Out-works.
1767. G. Whitefield, Lett. (1768), 12. Allowing another thousand for repairing the house, and building the two intended wings.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., II. 61 (Christmas Eve). It was an irregular building of some magnitude…. One wing was evidently very ancient, with heavy stone-shafted bow windows.
b. Naut. (a) That part of the hold or space between decks which is next the ship’s side. (b) In a steamer (see quot. 1846). (c) In a canal-boat or barge (see quot. 1906).
1730. Capt. W. Wriglesworth, MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell,’ 25 Sept. Levelled the Hold from the Fore-hatchway clear aft,… picked out the large Stones to lay in the Wings.
1805. in Naval Chron., XV. 34. He … was carried down into one of the wings.
1846. A. Young, Naut. Dict., 370. The term wing is also applied to the projecting part of a steam-vessel’s deck before and abaft each of the paddle-boxes; this is bounded by a thick plank called the sponsing-rim or wing-wale which extends from the extremity of the paddle-beam to the ship’s side.
1906. Daily Chron., 19 Feb., 10/5. If the tunnel is too wide, boards projecting over the boat’s side, termed ‘wings,’ are brought into use for them [sc. ‘leggers’] to lie on.
c. Theatr. Each of the side-scenes on the stage; also pl. (occas. sing.) the space at each side of the stage where these stand.
1790. Malone, Shaks. Wks., I. II. Acc. Stage 83. The technical modern term, wings, or side scenes.
1807. Director, II. 330. The turning of one single wheel effects at once … the simultaneous retreat of the entire assemblage of wings and drops and flat.
1835. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Private Theatres. The little space there is between the wings and the wall, and one wing and another.
1847. Broderip, Zool. Recr., 320. The frantic stage-manager in the wing.
1885. Mabel Collins, Prettiest Woman, i. She had known her maintain that cold sternness to the very wings, and then bound on to the stage.
10. Anat. A lateral part or projection (usually, one of a pair) of some organ or structure; e.g., each of the lateral cartilages of the nose, a lateral process of a bone (esp. of the sphenoid): = ALA 1.
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., vii. (1653), 118. That beauty which so manifestly appears in the wings of the Nose.
1663. Bayfield, Treat. De Morb. Capitis, 100. The Haw, nail, or little wing (as they term it) of the eye.
1693. trans. Blancard’s Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Pinna Auris, the upper and broader part of the Ear, called the Wing.
1758. J. S., trans. Le Dran’s Observ. Surg. (1771), 31. The Wing of the right Nostril.
1831. R. Knox, Cloquet’s Anat., 289. The great wing of the sphenoid bone.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., III. 570. When one wing [of the diaphragm] is much raised, as by a collection of gas.
11. Bot.
† a. The axil of a leaf: = ALA 2 a. Obs. † b. Each of the lateral divisions or leaflets of a pinnate leaf. (Cf. WINGED a. 3 a.) Obs. c. Each of the two lateral petals of a papilionaceous flower: = ALA 2 b. d. A thin membranous appendage of a seed or fruit, serving for its dispersal by the wind; a thin lateral projection extending along a stem; any thin appendage, as on some part of a flower. (Cf. WINGED a. 3 b.)
a. 1763. Mills, Syst. Pract. Husb., IV. 402. The flowers … are produced … from the wings of the leaves.
b. 1776. Withering, Brit. Plants, 651. Fern. Filix mas.… Leaves doubly winged; wings blunt.
c. 1776. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., Gloss., Ala, a Wing, the Side Petals of a papilionaceous Blossom, or a Membrane added to a Seed, Stalk, &c.
1796. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), I. 307. Wings are 2 equal petals.
1870. Hooker, Stud. Flora, 85. Genista … Wings oblong.
d. 1776. [see c].
1787. Linnæus’ Fam. Plants, 183. Fruit egg’d, encompass’d with a wing striated on both sides.
1911. W. S. Furneaux, Field & Woodl. Plants, iii. 37. In the Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea … the ‘wings’ of the stem and petioles.
III. Phrases. * with prepositions.
12. In (the) wing. † a. In wing of: in course or process of, engaged in. Obs. rare.
c. 1482. J. Kay, trans. Caoursin’s Siege of Rhodes, ¶ 7. Whenne thay were in wyng of these werkys [Dum hæc … agerentur].
† b. In the wing of: ? in the overshadowing presence of. Obs. rare.
1579. W. Wilkinson, Confut. Fam. Love, 39 b. Our owne Newtralisme and Lukwarmenes shall in the wyng of Gods sonne vtterly condemne vs.
13. On or upon the wing or † one’s wing, † on wing; also A-WING. a. lit. Flying, in flight.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, d j b. When she is on wyng and comyth low bi the grounde.
1616. Fletcher, Hum. Lieut., I. i. The roiall Eagle When she hath tri’d her young ones gainst the Sun,… next teacheth ’em to prey, How to command on wing.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 332. They heard, and were abasht, and up they sprung Upon the wing. Ibid., 345. So numberless were those bad Angels seen Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell.
1742. Gray, Spring, 25. The insect youth are on the wing.
1831. Audubon, Ornith. Biog., I. 137. It is seldom that one of these birds is on wing … without uttering its cry.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, II. iv. The old birds were too strong on the wing for our young marksmen.
1859. E. FitzGerald, Omar, vii. The Bird of Time has but a little way To fly—and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.
1882. Blackie, Lett. to Wife (1909), 299. I have been as happy as a bird on the wing.
b. fig. (a) Moving or travelling swiftly or briskly; astir, active, on the move.
1508. Dunbar, Poems, vii. 50. Throw Scotland, Ingland, France, and Lumbardy, Fleys on weyng thi fame, and thi renoune.
1602. Shaks., Ham., II. ii. 132. When I had seene this hot loue on the wing.
1616. Fletcher, Hum. Lieut., I. i. ’Tis time his fortune be a wing [v.rr. o’ wing, o’ th’ wing], high time sir.
1642. D. Rogers, Naaman, To Rdr. b 3 b. So long as we can keep sound Doctrine on wing, we shall hope to kill … all three [evils].
1655. Ld. Norwich, in Nicholas Papers (Camden), III. 217. With what impatience his good subiects … expect to heare yt his Maty were uppon his wing.
1759. Johnson, Rasselas, xiii. The prince, whose thoughts were always on the wing.
1839. Longf., Hyperion, I. iii. Nobody is on the wing; hardly a single traveller.
1871. Mrs. H. Wood, Dene Hollow, xxxix. Captain … Clanwaring was on the wing early.
(b) ‘Taking flight,’ going off or away, starting, departing; ready to start or depart.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. To Rdr. **2. Hauing beene too prodigall in communicating my papers,… they caught me when I was vpon my wings.
1668. Dryden, Even. Love, I. i. Look you, they are on the wing already. Ibid. (1675), Aurengz., IV. (1676), 55. He’s wild, and soon on wing, if watchful eyes come near.
1721–2. Pope, Lett. to Atterbury, 8 Feb. When I went last to town, and was on wing for the Deanry.
1861. Mrs. H. Wood, East Lynne, III. xx. She fell on her knees … in prayer for the departing spirit, on its wing.
1898. Punch, 20 Aug., 81/2. The Courts are up and the members of the four Inns are supposed to be on the wing.
14. On wings: (going) with light steps as one in a joyously exalted mood.
1859. Meredith, R. Feverel, xx. Now the young gentleman was off and out every night, and seemed to be on wings.
1861. Reade, Cloister & H., vi. They sealed the promise with a long loving kiss, and Gerard went home on wings.
On the wings of…: see 2 b.
15. Under (…) wing. a. Under the wing of, under ——’s wing († wings): under the protection, care or patronage of. (Cf. 3 b.)
c. 1230. Hali Meid. (1922), 66. Ȝef þu wel wrist te under godes wengen.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 17638. I blisce þe, lauerd, þou me has gett And sauf vnder þi wenges sett.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 1769. Turne þe, trechoure,… And drawe a-gayn to þi den vndire þi dam wingis [v.r. wengez].
1455. Rolls of Parlt., V. 281/2. Such as abide and kepe theim self undre the wynge of your Mageste Roiall.
1503. Hawes, Examp. Virtue, VII. 87. And vnder the wynge of my proteccyon All rebels brought be to subieccyon.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, II. i. H iij b. I haue euer be brought vp at home i. vnder my mothers wynge.
1669. H. More, Exp. 7 Epist., Ep. Ded. A 3 b. If I had not taken this opportunity of paying your Lordship this due respect, and of doing that right to the Truth I here professe as to put it under the wings of so fit and able a Patron.
1765. Foote, Commissary, III. 47. There liv’d Miss Cicely … under the wing of an old maiden aunt.
1879. Froude, Cæsar, xxi. 353. They fled for their lives to find safety under Pompey’s wing in Capua.
† b. To keep one’s bill under wing: to remain quiet or inactive (like a sleeping bird). Obs. rare.
[Cf. quot. c. 1425 in 1.]
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 174. After this … the duke of Yorke … thought it mete neither lenger to dissimule, nor farther to kepe his bill vnder wyng.
c. Hit under the wing (slang): intoxicated.
1844. Alb. Smith, Adv. Mr. Ledbury, iv. He being … ‘hit under the wing.’
** with verbs. (For other phrases, as clip the wings, see the vbs.)
† 16. To hang the wing (cf. HANG v. 4 c): to hesitate, show timidity. Obs.
a. 1601. North, Plutarch, Epamin. (1612), 1122. Afraid onely of the name and reputation of Epaminondas, and hanging the wing, as they say.
a. 1624. Bp. Smyth, Serm. (1632), 40. If Saint Peter … had hanged the wing, as they speake, or let fall his Crest.
17. To make wing (cf. 3 a and MAKE v.1 59): to make one’s way by flying, to fly. ? Obs.
1605. Shaks., Macb., III. ii. 51. Light thickens, And the Crow makes Wing to th’ Rookie Wood.
1650. Fuller, Pisgah, II. xiii. 281. Hence he made wing, taking a long and strong flight to Mizpah.
1666. Dryden, Ann. Mirab., lxxxvii. The dastard Crow that to the Wood made wing.
1856. Bryant, Winds, 17. The weary fowls of heaven make wing in vain, To escape your wrath.
18. a. To take to wing (TAKE v. 74 b): = b. ? Obs.
1693. J. Dryden, jun., Juvenal, XIV. 99. Soon as e’er to Wing they take.
1870. N. F. Hele, Aldeburgh, vii. 84. It was within ten yards of me when it took to wing.
b. To take († its, etc.) wing (TAKE v. 24 c); (a) of a bird, etc.: To take flight, begin flying.
1807. Wordsw., Song at Feast of Brougham Castle, 130. He knew the rocks which Angels haunt … He hath kenned them taking wing.
1812. Col. Hawker, Diary (1803), I. 62. They will instantly take wing and give you a beautiful shot.
1890. C. Dixon, Stray Feathers, i. 6. The Ring Doves, startled at this, took wing.
(b) fig. To ‘take flight,’ take one’s departure, make off, flee.
1704. Lond. Gaz., No. 4056/5. Success, like Fame, has taken Wing.
1715. Bentley, Serm. Popery, 24. The weary Soul … ready to leave the Carcase, and yet not suffer’d to take it’s Wing.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), iv. Introd. I lately changed my lodgings…. I took wing at a moment’s warning.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Sutherl. (Colburn), 32. As he touched the lock, they took wing like a covey of partridges.
1876. Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., xxxvi. I found a fellow who … knew this Mrs. Glasher before she took wing.
*** 19. Wing-and-wing (Naut.): (of a ship) sailing directly before the wind, with the foresail hauled over on one side and the mainsail on the other.
1841. R. H. Dana, Seaman’s Man., 135.
1893. Kipling, Seven Seas, Coastwise Lights, 13. We greet the clippers, wing-and-wing, that race the Southern wool.
IV. Attributive uses and Combinations.
20. a. Simple attrib.: (a) in sense 1 (in reference to parts, structure or function), as wing area, feather, flight, membrane, neuration, patch, pattern, pinion, power, quill, ray, shoulder, vein; (b) in sense 5 d; (c) in sense 6 or 9 (= side, lateral), as wing boiler, cabin, room, walk; (d) in sense 7, as wing adjutant, commander, officer; in sense 7 b, as wing forward, half, man, player; (e) = having wings or side appendages (6, 8), as wing bonnet, cap, chair, gudgeon, nut.
(a) 1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, IV. (Arb.), 101. Furth she quicklye galops, with wingflight swallolyke hastning.
1675. Hannah Woolley, Gentlew. Comp., 114. Put under the wing-Pinions on each side the long slices of flesh which you did cut from the Breast-bone.
1704. Petiver, Gazophyl., iii. 23. Its Belly, Wing-shoulders, Collar, and about the Eyes white.
1752. J. Hill, Hist. Anim., 343. The exterior wing-feathers are black.
1815. Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., IX. I. 3. Interior wing-quills externally margined.
1826. Samouelle, Direct. Collect. Insects & Crust., 37. The Pterigostia or wing-bones, hairy.
1837. Penny Cycl., VII. 25/1. It [sc. a bat] hybernates … snugly wrapped up in the wing-membranes.
1856. Zoologist, Ser. I. XIV. 5157. The wing-veins of insects. Ibid., 5195. The Wing-rays of Insects.
1872. Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 100. Wing-patch resolved into two bars. Ibid., 174. When very young, the wing-markings more fulvous.
1893. Newton, Dict. Birds, 269. Those … which can soar are mostly large birds, with a relatively large wing-area.
1902. Spectator, 26 July, 112/1. The wing-power of the dragon-flies is probably greater than that of any other insect.
1910. Encycl. Brit., XIII. 432/1. Orthopteroid wing-neuration. Ibid. (1911), XVI. 469/1. The darkening of wing-patterns in many species of Lepidoptera.
(b) 1897. Lanchester, Aerodonetics (1908), 353. The reaction of the air on the upper and under wing surfaces.
1910. R. Ferris, How It Flies, 474. Wing Plan—The outline of the wing or main plane surface as viewed from above.
(c) a. 1697. Aubrey, Lives, Bacon (1898), I. 79. In the middle-most three coaches may passe abreast: in the wing-walkes two may.
1838. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 284/2. The furnaces in the wing boilers.
1877. L. Jewitt, Half-Hours Engl. Antiq., 112. The sleeved surcoat; the ailettes or wing-pieces, behind the shoulders.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, 291. Wing-bore … a side or flank bore-hole.
1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 Aug., 2/1. This, with the wing cabin at the foot of the companion, will make up berths for nine.
1887. T. N. Page, Ole Virginia (1891), 194. The great chamber was given up to the baby, the Colonel going to the wing room.
1923. J. C. Rogers, Engl. Furnit., 64. The back … fitted with forward wing-pieces.
(d) 1734. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 192. I sent a pinnace and brought the Velt Marshall’s Wing Adjutant to me.
1876. Voyle & Stevenson, Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), 470/2. Wing Officer, an officer of the Indian army attached to a wing of a native infantry regiment.
1882. Cassell’s Bk. Sports, 40. Wing players should be good dribblers.
1898. J. Goodall, Assoc. Football, 30. The wing game—that is to say, the two pairs playing together, leaving the centre-forward waiting for something to turn up. Ibid., 78. Wing-halves should keep their eyes on the wing-forwards.
1918. W. T. Blake, R. F. C. in War, vii. 42. The Wing Headquarters.
(e) 1775. Mme. D’Arblay, Early Diary, 28 Feb. She had on a large dirty wing cap, made of muslin.
1817. Maria Edgeworth, Harrington, xiii. Then at the top of the mount of hair and horsehair … there was sometimes a fly-cap, or a wing-cap, or a pouf.
1883. T. Hardy, in Longman’s Mag., July, 259. The wing bonnet like the tilt of a waggon.
1891. Anthony’s Photogr. Bull., IV. 121. Put a 1/4 inch bolt with a wing thumb nut, through.
1907. G. O. Wheeler, Old Engl. Furniture, 190. The ordinary English ‘wing’ or ‘grandfather’ chair.
b. Instrumental, adverbial, parasynthetic, etc., as wing-broken, -clipped, -hoofed, -like, -limed, -shaped, -wide adjs.
a. 1793. G. White, Naturalist’s Cal., etc. (1795), 96. As a person was lately pursuing a pheasant that was *wing-broken.
1874. J. W. Long, Amer. Wild-fowl, iii. 7. Rather a cruel method, perhaps, but one attended with great success in wild-goose shooting, is, on securing a wing-broken one, to fasten it to a stake a short distance from the blind.
1892. R. Payne-Gallwey, in Pall Mall Gaz., 24 March, 2/1. Some of the birds can fly, and these are as often missed as killed—oftener, a good deal; but the *wing-clipped ones … are … shot down.
1615. Chapman, Odyss., XXIII. 377. Who th’ extended night With-held in long date; nor would let the light Her wing-hoou’d horse ioyne.
1848. Dunglison, Med. Lex., Alaria ossa, the *wing-like processes of the sphenoid bone.
1606. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. II. Magnificence, 428. Why the wilde Fen-Goose … as *wing-lim’d, cannot fly.
1829. Loudon, Encycl. Plants (1836), 598. Leaves … *wing-shaped.
1818. Keats, Walking in Scot., 19. Eagles may seem to sleep *wing-wide upon the air.
21. Special Combs.: wing-band = next, (b); wing-bar, (a) a lateral bar in a scuffling-plough; (b) a bar or band of color on the feathers of a bird’s wing, spec. one formed by distinctive coloration of the greater or median coverts or both; (c) in an aeroplane: see quot. 1910; wing-bay, a marking on a bird’s wing formed by distinctive coloration of the secondaries, in certain game-cocks characteristically of a bay color; wing-bow, a marking on the shoulder or bend of the wing formed by distinctive coloration of the lesser coverts; wing-case, each of the structures (modified fore-wings) that cover the functional wings in certain insects, as the elytra of beetles and the tegmina of Orthoptera; wing-chick, a young chicken still under the protection of its mother’s wing; † wing-cleft a., Bot. = PINNATIFID (cf. 11 b); wing-compass, a compass having one leg fitted with an arc-shaped ‘wing’ or projecting piece that passes through the other leg and may be clamped in any required position (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875); wing-cover = wing-case; wing-covert [COVERT sb. 5], any one of the small feathers overlying the flight-feathers of a bird’s wing; wing-dam sb., a dam or barrier built into a stream to deflect the current; hence wing-dam v., trans. to furnish with a wing-dam; wing-deck = sense 9 b (b); wing-elm = winged elm (see WINGED a. 3 c); † wing-fashion a. or adv., in the form of wings; wing-fish, (a) = PTERICHTHYS; (b) a flying-fish, esp. of the genus Prionotus; wing-footed a., having winged feet, swiftly moving; wing-game, game-birds collectively, as distinguished from ground-game (GROUND sb. 18); † wing-laid a., ? = wing-and-wing (see 19); † wing-leaved a., Bot. having pinnate leaves (cf. 11 b); wing-net, (a) a ‘wing’ in a fishing-net (= 6 d), or a fishing-net with wings; (b) a net at the side of a tennis-court; wing passage, a passage along the side of a ship’s hold: see 9 b (a); also attrib.; † wing-post, nonce-wd. [POST sb.2 2], a carrier pigeon; wing-rail = GUARD-RAIL 2 (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875); wing rib, the end rib of a loin of beef; wing-sail, ? a sail abaft the main course; wing-sheath = wing-case; wing-shell, † (a) the wing-sheath of an insect; (b) any of several kinds of mollusks having the shell or some part of it resembling a wing, as the genus Pinna (= SEA-WING 2); also, a wing-snail; wing-shooting, the practice of shooting birds ‘on the wing,’ i.e., when flying; wing-shot sb., (a) a shot aimed at a flying bird; (b) a person skilled in wing-shooting; adj. shot while flying, or in the wing; wing-snail = PTEROPOD; wing-stopper [STOPPER sb. 9], a cable-stopper formerly used in the wings of a ship; wing-tip, (a) the tip of the wing of a bird, bat or insect; (b) the outer end of the ‘wing’ of an aeroplane; wing-tipped ppl. a. (of a bird) having the tips of the wings clipped so as to prevent it from flying; wing-transom, the uppermost and longest of the transoms in the stern-frame of a ship; wing-wader, an Australian wading bird having a spur or claw on each wing; wing-wale (see quot. 1846 in 9 b); wing-wall, a lateral wall forming a support to an abutment and to the adjacent earth.
1872. Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 101. *Wing-bands generally fused into one large patch.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 959. The ends of the *wing-bars having a mortise formed to receive the quadrant, are moved upon this to any required width.
1855. Poultry Chron., III. 348/2. They are light blue on the coloured parts and have no wing bars.
1910. R. Ferris, How It Flies, 474. Wing Bar—The larger construction members of a wing, running from the body outward to the tips. The ribs are attached to the wing bars, usually at right angles.
1867. Tegetmeier, Poultry Bk., 338. *Wing Bow.—Rich dark red.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Isagoge, c 2 b. Some [Insects] have *wing-cases, as beetles, and cantharides.
1815. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., iii. (1818), I. 64. Two wings, and two wing-cases, ornamented with yellow bands.
1885. Meredith, Diana, xxviii. A young poet … is not the same kind of *wing-chick as a young actress.
1796. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 294. Leaves winged; leafits *wing-cleft.
1822. Hortus Anglicus, II. 120. More properly twice wing-cleft than twice pinnate.
1816. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., xxiii. (1818), II. 350. In the next order (Orthoptera), the Tegmina, or *wing-covers … assist them in flying.
1888. Rolleston & Jackson, Anim. Life, 509. The fore wings may be converted into wing covers for the hind wings.
1815. Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., IX. I. 3. Greater *wing-coverts tipped with crimson.
1882. Rep. Prec. Metals U.S., 102. By sinking a shaft and drifting preparatory to building a *wing-dam.
1857. J. D. Borthwick, Three Yrs. California, xvii. 265. A company of fifteen or twenty white men would have *wing-dammed this claim.
1889. M. G. van Rensselaer, in Century Mag., July, 374/1 (Steamboat Decoration). More of this glass gives a desirable touch of color in the lights above the *wing-decks at each end.
1547. in Feuillerat, Revels Edw. VI. (1914), 14. vij peyre of Sleves *wyng ffasshion.
1855. Orr’s Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat., 80. The Pterichthys (*wing-fish).
1888. Goode, Amer. Fishes, 304. [Fishes of the genus Prionotus] are eaten … only in the vicinity of Hartford, Conn., where they are known as ‘Wing-fish.’
1591. Spenser, Ruins of Time, 666. *Wing footed Mercurie.
1612. Drayton, Poly-olb., x. 322. Wing-footed Time.
1658. Rowland, trans. Moufet’s Theat. Ins., 923. Hail the daughters of the wing-footed steed.
1879. Jefferies, Wild Life in S. Co., vii. The neighbouring squire takes the pick of the *wing-game.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., X. 502. The *wing-layd Galley, with her factious oares.
1822. Hortus Anglicus, II. 119. *Wing-leaved Fig Wort, or Dog’s Rue.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. s.v. Stake-net, At from 30′ to 40′ down stream another row of stakes is set, each opposite a stake in the bar-net, and between these stakes a *wing-net is stretched.
1884. Marshall’s Tennis Cuts, 96. A gentleman,… in a fit of passion at some coup manqué, flung his racket high in air, and it lodged on the ledge above the tambour, behind the wing-net.
1869. Sir E. Reed, Shipbuild., vi. 101. The *wing passages of wooden ships of war.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 364/1. The ‘wing-passage-bulkhead’ as a protection against under-water attacks such as ramming or torpedoes.
a. 1661. Fuller, Worthies, Northamptonshire (1662), II. 279. Such practices, by these *Wing-posts, would spoil many a Foot-post.
1883. ‘Annie Thomas,’ Mod. Housewife, iv. 48. The other joint is a seven or eight pound piece of *wing rib or sirloin of beef.
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, I. 135. *Wingsail for Ketches. This sail is quadrilateral, and similar to the mizen-course of a ship. It … bends abaft the mainmast to hoops which encircle the mast.
1874. Garrod & Baxter, Mat. Med., 41. The elytra or *wing-sheaths are long.
1681. Grew, Musæum, I. § vii. ii. 164. The *Wing-shells almost square-knobed on each side before. Ibid. The Long-Shell’d Goat-Chafer … is above an inch long, and the Wing-shells of themselves an inch.
1835. Kirby, Hab. & Inst. Anim., I. viii. 252. The wing-shell belonging to the unimuscular section.
1854. Woodward, Mollusca, II. 260. The wing-shells, or pearl-oysters.
1881. Greener, Gun, 58. These guns … were probably intended for *wing-shooting.
1883. A. M. Mayer, in Century Mag., Aug., 493/2. Last season, I shot with the best *wing-shot I ever hunted with.
1892. Greener, Breech-Loader, 253. The contest for the American Field Champion Wing-Shot Cup.
1895. G. J. Manson, Sporting Dict., Wing-shot,… hit on the wing.
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, I. 176. Dog-stoppers are used as additional securities … to ease the deck-stoppers. *Wing-stoppers are used for the same purpose.
1872. Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 175. The *wing-tip projects only about 1/2 an inch beyond the secondaries.
1890. Darwin, Desc. Man, II. xi. (ed. 2), 322. The female of Anthocharis cardamines does not possess the beautiful orange wing-tips of the male.
1909. Daily Chron., 2 Feb., 5/6. He … hesitated a second to see that the man at the wing tip was ready.
1849. D. J. Browne, Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855), 236. Being *wing-tipped and unable to fly, he caught it and brought it home alive.
1711. W. Sutherland, Shipbuild. Assist., 70. The *Wing Transom to have a long arm’d Knee.
1815. Burney, Falconer’s Dict. Marine, s.v. Transoms, The arms of the transoms, being gradually closer in proportion to their distance from the wing transom downwards.
1867. Pitt-Rivers, Evol. Culture, Prim. Warfare, I. (1906), 71. The *wing-wader of Australia.
1791. Rep. Navig. Thames & Isis, Estimate 5. Taking down the Side-Walls of Godstow Lock, re-building them, strengthening the *Wing-Walls, and finishing, £ 450.
1842. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., V. 95/1. Retaining walls were generally introduced at the ends of bridges, to connect the abutments of the bridge with the natural ground; but in these cases they were called ‘wing walls.’
