[UP- 7. Cf. UPSET v.]
I. † 1. The action of setting up or erecting. Obs.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., II. iv. 156. The hauyng, and the vpsetting of ymagis.
1507. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl., III. 261. For prenes to the pailȝoun and upsetting of it, x d.
1525. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 56. Ilk man of the said craft that settis up ane buth sall pay 40 schillingis at thare buth upsetting.
† b. Sc. The action of raising to, or establishing in, position or power. Obs.
1470. in Ellis, Orig. Lett., I. 133. He … confessed that he was cawser of the upsetynge of the Kynge of England that now is.
1560. Maitl. Cl. Misc., III. 224. For avancement and upsetting of the Kingdome and glorie of God.
1570. Buchanan, Admon., Wks. (1892), 27. In doun putting of thevis and upsetting of justice.
1669. R. Fleming, Fulfill. Script. (1671), I. 151. The Roman empire mouldred down for Antichrist’s upsetting.
1748. E. Erskine, Serm. (1755), 327. What a pleasant Upsetting of Christ, and his Kingdom, would it be, to see him [etc.].
c. Agric. (See quot.)
1785. A. Young, Annals Agric., II. 442. I saw them ploughing their fallows;… they do not ridge up, what is called up-setting in some parts, that is, raising the centers much higher than the furrows.
d. techn. (See quots. and UPSET v. 1 c.)
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sc. & Art, I. 11. When it is required to thicken any part of a bar of iron without welding, the operation called upsetting must be resorted to.
1831–3. Encycl. Metrop. (1845), VIII. 24. Having heated his iron rod, and thickened it by a process … called upsetting.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2684/1. Shortening [a] tire, to enable it to bind the fellies more firmly, is called upsetting.
e. (See quot. and UPSET v. 3.)
1859. ‘Stonehenge,’ Shot-Gun, 306. By upsetting is to be understood the turning sideways of an elongated ball.
f. The action of raising or building up. nonce-use.
1882. Besant, All Sorts, xxviii. (1898), 191. The younger men … were quite sure … that with a little more upsetting and downpulling the balance would be set right.
† 2. = UPSITTING vbl. sb. 1. Also attrib. Obs.
1501. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl. (1900), II. 41. Giffin to the Maister Cuke that he bocht in Edinburgh to the ladyis upsetting fest,… viijs.
1676. Coles, Up-setting-time, when the Child-bed woman gets up.
1746. Exmoor Courtship (E.D.S.), 380. You werent so skittish … up to Darathy Vuzz’s Up-setting.
1814. Monthly Mag., Sept., 126/2. Upsetting, christening…. [A word] peculiar to Exmoor.
† 3. The action of setting up in a trade or occupation. Obs.
1569. Wills & Inv. N. C. (Surtees, 1835), 30. Eyther at ye daye of his vpsetting to his science or at the daye of his mariaidge.
1640. [Shirley], Capt. Underwit, IV. v. The musick at a Convocation of Catts upon a witches upsetting.
4. Sc. An attempt to set oneself up above others; undue assumption of superiority or superior airs.
1821. Galt, Ann. Parish, xxix. Partly with upsetting, and partly by the eating rust of family pride. Ibid. (1823), Entail, lxiv. I declare if e’er I heard the like of sic upsetting.
II. 5. The action of overturning, or fact of being overturned.
1819. Moore, Mem. (1853), III. 85. Two men on each side of our carriage all the way, to keep it from upsetting.
1820. Wordsw., in C. Wordsw., Mem. (1851), II. 103. Of these, one … was drowned … by the upsetting of a boat in a storm.
1860. Builder, 14 Jan., 31/2. Brickwork … thrown down by the accidental upsetting of a water-tank.
1873. Mrs. Brookfield, Not a Heroine, I. 218. It was an accident—the upsetting of a cart.
b. The action of overthrowing, demolishing, etc.
1827. Wordsw., in C. Wordsw., Mem. (1851), II. 21. The upsetting of so diabolical a system as Buonaparte’s.
1841. S. Warren, Ten Thousand a Year, I. vi. The dismal upsetting of his hopes.
1860. Gen. P. Thompson, Audi Alt. Part., III. cxli. 121. All the danger attending the upsetting a nest of thieves.
c. A dislocation, disturbance, upset.
1847. Halliwell, Upsetting, a disagreement; a quarrel. South.
1881, 1884. in Isle of Wight and Kent glossaries.
1884. Manch. Exam., 25 Nov., 5/2. We have two or three agitations and upsettings when one would have sufficed.
