purringn.1
/ˈpəːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpərɪŋ/ Chiefly British regional.† 1. The action of purr v.1; esp. in purring iron n. a fire poker. Obsolete (in later use Scottish).
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the world > movement > impact > striking > striking in specific manner > [noun] > striking with pushing action
purringa1398
jobbinga1578
thrusting1794
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 249v Hvrden hatte Stupa and is clensyng offall of hempe..and men in olde tyme cleped it Stypa, as it were, stoppynge or porrynge.
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria xxi. f. 182 Yf the cattell..be nat kepte fro the leese: they wyll be in parel of brastynge, for porrynge.
?a1530 M. Beele Order Shoting Crosbow in Retrospective Rev. Feb. (1853) 208 Lyke as the fissher wolle take on hym to selle An ele in Themmys by porrynge with his spere.
1583 Edinb. Test. XIII. f. 45, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Porring-irne Ane chymnay of irne..with..tua pair of tayngis & ane porring irne.
1627 Brechin Test. IV. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue f. 291 Tua pair taingis with purringe ironis.
1702 in A. W. C. Hallen Acct. Bk. Sir J. Foulis (1894) 307 For a stoif chimney without back tangs, show, and poring iron..£7 8 0.
1717 Closeburn Inventory (Nithisdale) in J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (1825) II. at Porr v. A chimney tongues, and shovel, a porring iron, and hearth besome.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (at cited word) Purring-irne, a poker, an iron for stirring the fire.
1898 N. Munro John Splendid 148 Poking the logs on the fire with a purring-iron.
2. In Lancashire: a kind of fighting, involving kicking an opponent while wearing clogs. Now historical.
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the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific thing > [noun] > with the foot > kicking > kicking with thick boots
purring1855
1812 Sporting Mag. 40 249 Carter..sent forth from the purring part of Lancashire.
1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. xxv. 312 He and I 'll have an up and down fight, purring an' a'.
1899 Birmingham Weekly Post 21 Jan. 12/4 You put your purring clogs on, and you insisted on having a purring match with Grey.
1978 P. Bailey Leisure & Class in Victorian Eng. iv. 88 A Lancashire speciality was ‘purring’, a form of single combat by kicking.
1996 Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Nexis) 21 June 23 Accounts of clogs and purring, pit girls and their manly garb all came from Smith's extensive research.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
purringn.2
/ˈpəːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpərɪŋ/ The action of purr v.2
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1712 tr. H. More Scholia Antidote Atheism 162 in H. More Coll. Philos. Writings (ed. 4) The purring of Catts, the ruffling of Silks, as of a Woman walking.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. i. 20 I found it proceeded from the purring of this Animal, who seemed to be three times larger than an Ox,..while her Mistress was feeding and stroaking her.
1790 A. Alison Ess. on Nature & Princ. of Taste ii. ii. 159 The growl of the Tyger resembles the purring of a Cat.
1816 P. B. Shelley Let. 17 July (1964) I. 490 Their hymns are the purring of kittens.
1888 E. W. Benson Diary 20 May in A. C. Benson Life of E. W. Benson (1899) II. 209 The night-jar fills up his [sc. the nightingale's] intervals with the softest purring.
1921 J. Galsworthy To Let 208 The stillness of the summer night stole back—with only the bleating of very distant sheep, and a night-jar's harsh purring.
1948 O. Breland Animal Life & Lore i. 116 Purring is caused by the vibration of the cat's vocal cords.
1993 New Yorker 12 Apr. 106/3 Shabalala made a rounded, grinding ‘grrrr’, which on his tongue sounded like the heavy purring of a cat.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
purringadj.
/ˈpəːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpərɪŋ/ 1. That purrs (in various senses).
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1685 R. L'Estrange Observator's Observ. 1 Trimmer. A Fidler or a Balad-singer may have more vertue in him for ought I know, then many a purring, mewing—Observator. Let me kiss thy hand, Trimmer, before thou goest any further.
1698 T. D'Urfey Campaigners 28 Make learned Bards, and fit for State Affairs, Of purring Cats, sly Foxes, and dull Bears.
1727 J. Gay Fables I. xxi. 71 She saw that, if his trade went on, The purring race must be undone.
1752 G. A. Stevens Distress upon Distress ii. 97 Purring Cats the nimble Mice pursue.
1827 G. Darley Sylvia 17 His Hostess..Who at her purring wheel had been.
1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. v. 167 He mellowed down into an amiable, purring old gentleman.
1919 ‘K. Mansfield’ Let. 12 Nov. (1993) III. 89 That big soft purring motor, the rugs & cushions—the warmth the delicacy all the uglies so far away.
1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xxvi. 209 The purring voice was now as false as an usherette's eyelashes.
1999 T. Chevalier Girl with Pearl Earring (2000) 55 She could be funny and playful one moment, then turn the next, like a purring cat who bites the hand stroking it.
2. Medicine. Designating a sensation imparted to the hand of the examiner during palpation which resembles that produced by touching a purring cat.
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1827 J. Forbes tr. R. T. H. Laennec Treat. Dis. Chest (ed. 2) ii. ii. xxvii. 696 These symptoms are still more marked, if the purring-thrill [Fr. frémissement cataire] accompanies the bellows-sound.
1876 tr. H. W. von Ziemssen et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. VI. 127 In palpating the finger feels a purring vibration over the cardiac apex.
1942 Amer. Heart Jrnl. 23 471 Over the base of the heart..a purring systolic thrill and a questionable diastolic thrill were felt.
1971 Amer. Jrnl. Med. 50 714/2 An intense, harsh systolic murmur with a purring systolic thrill over the lower part of the sternum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a1398n.21712adj.1685