[f. CHASE v.2]
1. The action or art of embossing or engraving in relief; also attrib., as in chasing-chisel, -hammer.
1835. Marryat, Olla Podr., xxiv. They are very clever in chasing of metals.
1846. Ellis, Elgin Marbles, I. 110. Chasing, or the art of working forms on hammered or hollowed out plates of metal.
1883. Eng. Illust. Mag., Nov., 89/2. Chasing had degenerated into a poor kind of diaper work.
b. concr. The figures or design chased on metal, etc. Also transf.
1862. Athenæum, 30 Aug., 277. The Vase … has, in its general form and chasings, signs of exquisite taste.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., II. § 1. 232. The little wavelets run and climb and cross each other, and thus form a lovely chasing.
2. (See quot.)
1881. Metal World, No. 2. 23/3. In bronze work the casting process presents the chief difficulty…. Next in importance comes the ‘chasing,’ a final operation, which consists in polishing and in the removal of any small surface inequalities or imperfections, in order that the cast may bear a perfect resemblance to the model.
3. The cutting of a screw. Hence chasing-lathe, a screw-cutting lathe.
1881. Hasluck, Lathe Work, 46. During the process of chasing it, the thread is always cut deeper at the end.
