Horning n. Appearance of the moon when increasing, or in the form of a crescent.
Letters of horning (Scots Law), the process or authority by which a person, directed by the decree of a court of justice to pay or perform anything, is ordered to comply therewith.
... Those who have arrived are eager to keep down the competition of newcomers; on their exclusiveness, as the phrase is, rests the whole of their social advantage. Thus the candidate from below, before horning in at last, must put up with an infinity of rebuff and humiliation; he must sacrifice his self-respect today in order to gain the hope of destroying the self-respect of other aspirants tomorrow. The result is that the whole edifice ... — The American Credo - A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind • George Jean Nathan
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