[f. LIFT v. + -ING1.]
1. The action of the vb. LIFT in various senses. Also lifting up. † Also concr. in hand-lifting: so much as can be taken up by the hand. † At the lifting: on the point of removal.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 204. Glotoun was a gret cherl and grym in þe lyftynge.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 567. Stanys [which] Fell fra þe fyrmament as a hand lyftyng.
1482. Monk of Evesham (Arb.), 107. The lyftyngys vppe of the crosse.
1551. Bible, Gen. xxiv. marg. note. The exercise of the spirit & lyftynge vp of the mind to God, ar called medytacions.
1590. Jas. VI., Sp. Gen. Assembly, Aug. As for our Neighbour Kirk in England … they want nothing of the Masse, but the liftings.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 322. Surbating … cometh … sometime by the hardness of the ground, and high lifting of the horse.
a. 1662. Heylin, Laud, I. 170. There had been some liftings at him in the Court by Sir John Cook.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (Bannatyne Club), I. 240. This army … by and attour 10000 baggage men is now at the lifting.
1674–80. Cotton, Compl. Gamester, 92. In the lifting for dealing the least deals.
c. 1730. Burt, Lett. Gentl. N. Scotl. (1754), II. 230. The stealing of their Cows they call Lifting, a soft’ning Word for Theft.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xxiii. 285. A sudden lifting of the fog showed them the cape.
1872. Hardwick, Trad. Lanc., 74. The ‘lifting’ of women by men on Easter Monday.
1884. Pae, Eustace, xix. 244. The cargo is ours for the lifting.
1901. W. D. Howells, Lit. Friends, II. vi. 89. In a lifting of the rain he walked with me down to the village.
2. attrib. and Comb. a. gen., as lifting power, trade; b. a contrivance or portion of a machine adapted for lifting, as lifting-bar, -blade, -cog, -crane, -gear, -hitch, -hook, -pallet, -piece, -rod, -screw, -tongs, -wire; lifting-cam, a cam or projection by which a lifting movement is effected, e.g., in firearms; lifting-day local = heaving-day; lifting-dog, (a) = lifting-cam; (b) (see quot. 18812); lifting-jack (see JACK sb.1 10).
1831. G. R. Porter, Silk Manuf., 247. The *lifting bars which in shape are something like blunted knife blades.
1881. Greener, Gun, 359. The *lifting-cams or ‘dogs,’ are dispensed with.
1852. *Lifting-cog [see LIFTER 2 b (i)].
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., I. 206/2. These three requisites are very beautifully combined … in the *lifting crane.
1881. Greener, Gun, 264. Knock the wire pivot right through the *lifting dogs.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., Lifting-dog, a claw-hook for grasping a column of bore-rods while raising or lowering them.
1887. Daily News, 22 Oct., 2/7. The pinnace was crushed through the breaking of the *lifting gear.
1831. G. R. Porter, Silk Manuf., 247. Half the number of *lifting hooks are attached to the lifting bars.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 513. That the end of the … spring … may project a little way over the point of the *lifting-pallet.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., *Lifting-pieces, are Parts of a Clock, which do lift up and unlock the Detents in the Clock-part.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 217. There are four pins in the minute wheel for raising the quarter lifting piece.
1849. Noad, Electricity, 357. A much greater *lifting power has … been obtained with other varieties of the electro-magnet.
1709. Hearne, Collect. (O. H. S.), II. 185. This Gentleman … is remarkable for carrying on the *lifting Trade.
