[f. EDGE v. + -ING1.]
† 1. The setting on edge (of the teeth). Obs.
1382. Wyclif, Amos iv. 6. Y ȝaue to ȝou eggyng of teeth.
2. The putting of an edge or border to anything. Also attrib., as in edging-lace, -stroke, -tile.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Canetille, an edging lace.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 575. Very much vsed for the edging of the best garments.
1664. Evelyn, trans. Freart’s Archit., 122 (R.). The edging stroaks and contours only.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 116. Edging of plank, sawing or hewing it narrower.
b. The trimming of the edges (of a lawn or grassplat); also attrib., as in edging-iron, -shears.
1858. Glenny, Gard. Every-day Bk., 236/1. The edging-iron must be used instead of the shears.
3. concr. That which forms an edge to anything; a border, fringe, etc., sewn on the edge of a garment; a border (of box or other plants), surrounding a flower-bed; and the like.
1664. Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 199. Adorn the outward Verge with an Edging of Pink, Limon, Thyme, Veronica, &c.
1685. Dryden, Theocritus, Idyll, iii. Misc. I. 237 (T.). The Garland which I … border’d with a Rosie edging round.
1699. Garth, Dispens., IV. (1706), 66. The Clouds aloft with golden Edgings glow.
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, II. iii. 366. After Rain, clip your Edgings of Box.
1807. Crabbe, Library, 148. The dull red edging of the well fill’d page.
1873. Tristram, Moab, xvi. 302. The old road … marked by its bold edging of stones.
b. A trimming on a seam.
1664. Pepys, Diary, 10 Feb. A close-bodied … coat, with a gold edgeing in each seam.
1717. Addison, Ovid’s Met., II. (R.). To show The golden edging on the seam below.
4. Lace made to be sewn on to the edge of some article of dress. Shorter form of edging-lace.
1558. Richmond. Wills (1853), 127. Vj yeards of edgine xxd.
1716. Lond. Gaz., No. 5438/4. Two Quarter Boxes of Lace and Edgings.
1750. Mrs. Delany, Life & Corr. (1861), II. 555. I have got your harp shell, and will send it you, and the Elizabeth edging.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 387/1. ‘Edgings,’ or the several kinds of cheap lace used for the bordering of caps and other female requirements.
5. The action of moving by insensible degrees; attrib., as in edging movement.
1879. A. Forbes, in Daily News, 16 April, 3/2. A kind of sidelong edging movement.
