obsessingn.
/əbˈsɛsɪŋ/, U.S. /əbˈsɛsɪŋ/, /ɑbˈsɛsɪŋ/ rare.
The action of obsess v.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > [noun] > as by an evil spirit
obsessing1665
obsession1680
1665 M. Nedham Medela Medicinæ 409 To the obsessing and distressing of those two most noble Vital Instruments of the Body.
1992 C. P. Estés Women who run with Wolves xii. 371 Conscious forgetting means wilfully dropping the practice of obsessing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
obsessingadj.
/əbˈsɛsɪŋ/, U.S. /əbˈsɛsɪŋ/, /ɑbˈsɛsɪŋ/ 1. Of a spirit, demon, etc.: that haunts, torments, or possesses someone. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1860 A. B. Child Whatever is, is Right 131 There is a great deal of common sense in these obsessing ‘devils’.
1872 J. O. Barrett Spiritual Pilgrim (ed. 3) 167 We engaged a healing physician..to expel the obsessing spirits.
1933 B. Gadelius Human Mentality xii. 294 The obsessing demon..called himself ‘Legeon’.
2. That leads to or is the object of an obsession. Also: obsessive.
ΚΠ
1892 Atlantic Monthly June 726/2 The urban life protects the laborer from the obsessing influence of the employer.
1905 New Phytologist 4 73 Just as in the cases of multiple personality, the ‘obsessing memories’..may..cause the organism as a whole to live in and focus its attention upon some past and long-forgotten condition.
1957 Jrnl. Philos. 54 334 At the same time, the rapid progress of science bestows an obsessing presence on the coming centuries.
1989 C. McWilliam Little Stranger (1990) xxx. 134 He..saved me, not from the pain, or the mess, but from the vituperative, obsessing voice of Margaret.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1665adj.1860