TANNING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Tanning

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/tˈænɪŋ/ Listen

noun

Tanning n. The art or process of converting skins into leather. See Tan, v. t., 1.

verb

Tan v. t. (past & past part. tanned; pres. part. tanning)

To convert (the skin of an animal) into leather, as by the usual process of steeping it in an infusion of oak or some other bark, whereby it is impregnated with tannin, or tannic acid (which exists in several species of bark), and is thus rendered firm, durable, and in some degree impervious to water. Note: The essential result in tanning is due to the fact that the tannins form, with gelatins and albuminoids, a series of insoluble compounds which constitute leather. Similar results may be produced by the use of other reagents in place of tannin, as alum, and some acids or chlorides, which are employed in certain processes of tanning.

To make brown; to imbrown, as by exposure to the rays of the sun; as, to tan the skin.

To thrash or beat; to flog; to switch; as, to tan a disobedient child's hide. (Colloq.)

Tan v. i. To get or become tanned.

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Etymology of 'Tanning'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tanning" Quotes from Famous Books

... and malarial fever. The flowers contain a bitter principle. The roots are acrid and poisonous. The seeds of the green fruit are eaten frequently by children; when ripe they contain gallic and tannic acids, by virtue of which they are used in tanning hides and to dye yellow combined with alum, and black combined with salts of iron. They also contain ...

— The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines • T. H. Pardo de Tavera

... which I can remember, about my seventh or eighth year, his wrath burst out with more dangerous effect. I was playing about him as he worked in the tanning-yard one spring afternoon, when in through the open doorway strutted two stately gentlemen, with gold facings to their coats and smart cockades at the side of their three-cornered hats. They were, as I afterwards understood, officers of the fleet ...

— Micah Clarke - His Statement as made to his three Grandchildren Joseph, - Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 • Arthur Conan Doyle

... Commons had complained in their petition that the clergy, instead of attending to their duties, were acting as auditors, bailiffs, stewards, or in other capacities, as laymen; they were engaged in trade also, in farming, in tanning, in brewing, in doing anything but the duties which they were paid for doing; while they purchased dispensations for non-residence on their benefices; and of these benefices, in favoured cases, single priests held as many as eight or nine. It was thought unnecessary to wait for the bishops' pleasure ...

— The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) • James Anthony Froude

... little daughter a miniature copy of every rude tool that she uses in her daily tasks. There is a little scraper of elk-horn to scrape rawhides preparatory to tanning them, another scraper of a different shape for tanning, bone knives, and stone mallets for ...

— Old Indian Days • [AKA Ohiyesa], Charles A. Eastman

... their hair, are converted into leather by an infusion of the astringent property of bark. The old plan of tanning used to occupy a long time; but, such was the value of the process, that the old tanners used to pride themselves upon producing a substantial article—which is more than can be said in many instances under modern improved modes, which hasten the process, much to ...

— Cattle and Their Diseases • Robert Jennings

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