[f. as prec. + -ING2.] That feathers; in senses of the vb.
1789. W. Gilpin, Wye, 93. Exhibited in pleasing contrast the grey stone, of which the ruins are composed, with the feathering foliage, that floated round them.
1839. M. F. Ossoli, in Mem. (1862), I. 260. His [Béranger’s] wit is so truly French in its lightness and sparkling, feathering vivacity, that one like me, accustomed to the bitterness of English tonics, suicidal November melancholy, and Byronic wrath of satire, cannot appreciate him at once.
1848. Lytton, Arthur, III. xxvii. Where o’er the space the feathering branches bend.
b. Of an oar, paddle-wheel, float, etc.: see FEATHER v. 11.
1781. R. Tickell, The Carnival of Venice, 6.
| And while the Moon shines on the stream, | |
| And as soft music breathes around; | |
| The feathering oar returns the gleam, | |
| And dips in concert to the sound. |
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Feathering-paddles.
1869. Sir E. J. Reed, Shipbuild., xv. 278. Feathering paddle-wheel shafts are sometimes carried on brackets secured to the ship’s side.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., Feathering Paddle-wheel. A wheel whose floats have a motion on an axis, so as to descend nearly vertically into the water and ascend the same way, avoiding beating on the water in the descent and lifting water in the ascent.
