vbl. sb. [f. FUR v. + -ING1.]

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  1.  a. The action of clothing or adorning with fur. b. concr. A lining or trimming of fur. Also collect.

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c. 1386.  Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 344. Þer is also costlewe furring in here gownes.

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c. 1394.  P. Pl. Crede, 604. Hem faileþ no furrynge ne cloþes at full.

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1536.  Bellenden, Cron. Scot. (1821), I. xxxiii. Mony martrikis, bevers, quhitredis and toddis; the furringis and skinnis of thaim ar coft with gret price amang uncouth marchandis.

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1554.  T. Martin, Bk. Priests’ Marriages (R.). Their whole life is spent … in providing for furring of their backs.

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a. 1577.  Gascoigne, Flowers, etc. Wks. (1587), 38. Their garments … fret for lack of furring.

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1585.  T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy. Turkie, II. xxiii. 62. He shall have the whole furring of a long gowne, al of fine martirs, for fourescore or a 100 duccats.

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c. 1610.  Sir J. Melvil, Mem. (1735), 209. He sent me his own Night-Gown furred with rich Furrings.

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1708.  J. Chamberlayne, The Present State of Great-Britain, II. III. vi. (1743), 416. None might wear Silk or costly furring except Knights & Barons.

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1849.  Rock, Ch. of Fathers, II. vi. 53, note. Among the clergy of the lower grade in a cathedral, there was a distinction marked by the furring of the amys.

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1886.  Scientific American, N. S., LV. 28 Aug., 129/2. He ought to have been fat and dumpy—a sort of hedgehog with heavy furring and short legs.

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  2.  The process of becoming furred or incrusted; the state of being furred; also, a coating of fur.

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1601.  Holland, Pliny, XX. xiv. II. 59. With Honie it [Mint] cureth the roughnes & furring of the toung.

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1612.  Woodall, The Surgeons Mate, Wks. (1653), 217. The furring of the mouth and the throat in fevers.

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1831.  Brewster, Newton (1855), I. i. 9–10. Having had occasion to talk of clepsydræ, or water-clocks, Newton remarked, that their chief inconvenience arose from the furring up of the small hole through which the water passed, by the impurities which it contained.

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1885.  W. L. Carpenter, Soap & Candles, 212. The lime salts are deposited in an insoluble form, such as the ‘furring’ in a tea-kettle or boiler.

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  3.  a. Shipbuilding. The action or process of double planking a ship’s side; also, a piece of timber used for this. Cf. DOUBLING 3 b.

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1622.  R. Hawkins, Voy. S. Sea (1847), 120. Another manner is used with double plankes, as thicke without as within, after the manner of furring; which is little better then that with lead.

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1627 Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., xi. 52. Ripping off the plankes two or three strakes vnder water and as much aboue, and put other Timbers vpon the first, and then put on the planks vpon those timbers, this … is called Furring.

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a. 1642.  Sir W. Monson, Naval Tracts, III. (1704), 346/2. Another Sheathing is with double Planks within and without, like a Furring; weighty, endures but a while, because the Worm works through the one and the other.

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1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Furring, doubling planks on a ship. Also, a furring in the ship’s side.

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  b.  Building. The nailing on of thin strips of board in order to level or raise a surface for lathing, boarding, etc. Also, the strips thus laid on.

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1678.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., I. 167. Furrings, the making good of the Rafters Feet in the Cornice.

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1703.  T. N., City & C. Purchaser, 146. When Rafters are rotten, or sunk hollow in the middle, and pieces (cut thickest in the middle, and to a point at each end) are nail’d upon them to make them straight again; the putting on of those pieces is call’d Furring the Rafters.

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1823.  P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 223. Furrings.—Slips of timber nailed to joists or rafters, in order to bring them to a level, and to range them into a straight surface.

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1850.  Parker, Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5), Furrings, or Shreadings, short pieces attached to the feet of the rafters of a roof.

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1859.  Gwilt, Archit., Gloss., Furring, the fixing of thin scantlings or laths upon the edges of any number of timbers in a range, when such timbers are out of the surface they were intended to form.

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1883.  Harper’s Mag., Nov., 884/2. The only combustible material … is the wood used in the floors and their furrings.

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  c.  Building. ‘A lining of scantling and plaster-work on a brick wall, to prevent the dampness of the latter reaching the room’ (Cassell).

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