Pa. t. and pa. pple. walked. Now only dial. and Hist. Also 5 walke, 6 woke, 7 wak, wack, 8 wawk, 9 woulk (dial. wauk, wack, wake: see Eng. Dial. Dict.). [Orig. identical with WALK v.1; here separated from that vb. because the sense ‘to full (cloth)’ is not recorded in Eng. before the 14th c. (see WALK-MILL1), though prominent in other Teut. langs.
OE. had the agent-n. wealcere WALKER2 (a Com. WGer. formation), but it is possible that the corresponding sense of the Teut. vb. had not survived into OE., and that the late ME. walke is either a back-formation from the agent-n. or an adoption from MLG. or MDu. walken.
The Teut. vb. in the sense ‘to full’ is the source of It. gualcare and OF. *gaucher (inferred from med.L. gauchatorium fulling-mill).]
1. trans. To subject (woollen cloth) to the operation of beating or pressing (together with other processes, as moistening and heating), in order to cause felting of the fibers and consequent shrinkage and thickening: = FULL v. 1.
14[?]. Langland’s P. Pl., B. XV. 447 (MS. C). Y walked [other MSS. Ytouked].
1437. Cov. Leet Bk., 187. That euery walker withe-in this Cite ffro this tyme fforwarde walke no Cloth & wete hym, but yeff [etc.].
1467. in Engl. Gilds (1870), 383. To dye, carde, or spynne, weve, or cloth-walke, withyn the seid cyte.
1511–2. Act 3 Hen. VIII., c. 6 § 1. The Walker and Fuller shall truely walke fulle thikke and werke every webbe of wollen yerne.
1568. Satir. Poems Reform., xlviii. 41. It is weill walkit, cairdit, and calkit.
1596. Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.), 107. For wokinge and ditchinge [i.e., dighting or dressing] of the said clothe iiijs xd.
1669. in Cramond, Ann. Banff (1891), I. 150. The Magistratis ordaines the thesaurer to by thrie scoir elnes of plaiding and caus wack and lit the samen reid to be coittis to the sojoris.
1773. Boswell, Tour Hebrides, 11 Sept. (1785), 205. Last night Lady Rasay shewed him the operation of wawking cloth, that is, thickening it in the same manner as is done by a mill. Here it is performed by women, who kneel upon the ground, and rub it with both their hands.
1797. W. Johnston, trans. Beckmann’s Hist. Invent., III. 266. The fullers received the cloth as it came from the loom, in order that it might be scoured, walked, and smoothed.
1814. Scott, Diary, 24 Aug., in Lockhart. In a cottage … we heard the women singing as they waulked the cloth by rubbing it with their hands and feet.
absol. 1608. in N. & Q., 8th Ser. XI. 202/1. That none of the inhabitants … doe washe anie clothes or walk at the well.
b. To mat together, felt. Also Sc. ‘to render hard and callous, as the skin of the hand by hard work’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.).
1641. Best, Farming Bks. (Surtees), 20. When woll is well risen from the skinne, the fleece is as it weare walked togeather on the toppe.
† 2. transf. To beat, drub (a person). Also, to walk (a person’s) coat. Obs. [So G. walken.]
a. 1530. Heywood, Johan & Tyb (Brandl), 40. Than I thynke he wyll say by and by, Walke her core, Johan Johan, and bete her hardely. Ibid., 667. I thank god I haue walkyd them well And dryuen them hens.
1556. J. Olde, trans. Walther’s Antichrist, 151 b. The rebellious stubburne fleshe must nedes be walked with a good cudgell.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 117. Thou wilt foole by walkt with a waster.
a. 1563. Jack Juggler (facs.), C iv b. Thou … drunken sote Yt were an almes dyde to walke thy cote.
17[?]. in R. Chambers, Scott. Songs (1829), II. 279. We’ll wauk their hides, and fyle their fuds.
3. Comb.: walk-apron Hat-making (see quot. 1886); walk-pin Hat-making (see quot. 1831–3); † walk-stock [cf. G. walkstock] = FULLING-stock. Also WALK-MILL.
1886. Cheshire Gloss., *Walk apron, hatting term, the apron used by workmen to keep them dry while working at the kettles.
1831–3. Encycl. Metrop., VIII. 761/2. The felt is worked and squeezed by means of a rolling pin, called a *walk pin.
1434–5. Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), 232. In cariacione de le *walkstoke. Ibid. (1460–1), 242. Pro factura unius walkestocke pro molendino ibidem [fulling-mill at Rilly] vjs.
