1. Longing desire; poignant grief or compassion.
1631. R. H., Arraignm. Whole Creature, xii. § 4. 131. The strong movings of his hart, and the earnings of his affections.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 95, ¶ 1. The generous Earnings of Distress in a manly Temper.
2. The act of uttering the prolonged cry of hounds or deer.
1575. Laneham, Lett. (1871), 13. The earning of the hoounds in continuauns of their crie.
1631. R. H., Arraignm. Whole Creature, xiii. § 4. 219. The young Fawne with earning?