vbl. sb. [f. STIPPLE v. + -ING1.] The action of the verb STIPPLE; the process or art of painting, engraving, etc., in dots; the design or shading so produced; dotted work: = STIPPLE sb. 2.
1807. J. Landseer, Lect. Engraving, 124. Stippling is a mode of producing prints by means of combinations of dots.
1868. Lockyer, Guillemin’s Heavens (ed. 3), 43. Darker … portions … often pretty thickly covered with dark dots, like stippling with a soft lead pencil.
attrib. 1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 4582. Graining Tools,… stippling brushes.
b. transf. Applied to natural appearances resembling stippled painting or engraving.
1851. J. P. Nichol, Archit. Heavens, 49. An exceedingly delicate and uniform dotting or stippling of the field of view.
1904. Brit. Med. Jrnl., 10 Sept., 599. A large cell … showing a uniform basophile stippling or granulation.
