bitting

Pluralbittings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   The shaped, grooved part of a key that engages a lock's internal tumblers and lets the mechanism turn.

   Like a fingerprint cut into metal: only the matching pattern releases the lock.

   A worn bitting can prevent the pins from aligning, leaving the key stuck in the lock.

   The duplicator scans the original key's bitting and reproduces each cut on a fresh blank.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of bit.

   The trainer was bitting the mare in the round pen when the rain started.

   Bitting the colt patiently over several sessions paid off by the end of the week.

   Note

   The horseman's participle comes from the verb meaning to put a bit in a horse's mouth. Because bit is also the past tense of bite, the two are easy to tangle. Biting, with one t, belongs to bite. Bitting, with a doubled t that keeps the short vowel, belongs only to the bridle. As a gerund it names the training itself, as in patient bitting of a young colt.

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle of bitt.

   Deckhands were bitting the chain as the captain called for the anchor to hold.

   Bitting the cable securely kept the vessel steady against the rising tide.

   Note

   A deck word built on bitt, the post on a ship that a cable is made fast around, much like a bollard. Bitting a cable or chain means taking turns of it round the bitts so it holds. The term belongs to traditional shipboard handling of anchor and mooring lines. Here the double t is part of the root itself, which separates it from the bridling participle spelled the same way.

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