clouding

Pluralcloudings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of cloud.

   A thin haze was clouding the mountain view by noon.

   Years of grief seemed to be clouding his judgment.

   Note

   The verb's -ing form does two jobs: after be it builds progressive tenses, and on its own it works as a verbal noun. It carries both sides of cloud. It is intransitive when haze gathers by itself, and transitive when something clouds a view or a judgment. Unlike the noun for a hazy look, the gerund keeps a verb's object (clouding the issue), and only the noun takes the plural cloudings.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A cloudy or hazy appearance, especially on a surface or substance that would otherwise be clear.

   Like the misty film that dulls an old mirror.

   A faint clouding spread across the polished lens over the years.

   The wine showed slight clouding after being left out in the cold.

   Similarhaze, cloudiness, haziness, fogging, film

   Oppositeclarity

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A mottled appearance produced on ribbons and silks during the dyeing process.

   Like the swirling tones in a sheet of marbled paper.

   The silk's clouding shifted from deep rose to pale pink along its length.

   Artisans prized the delicate clouding that careful dyeing brought to the ribbon.

   Similarmottling, marbling, variegation

   Note

   A dyer's word for a finish, not for weather. The mottle is something the dyeing gives to ribbons and silks, part of how the fabric is made. Keep it apart from the yarn sense, where colors return at regular intervals. Here the effect is a mottle, with shades blending in patches across the fabric. It is countable when naming a particular effect, so different ribbons can show different cloudings.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A variety of colors in yarn, recurring at regular intervals along its length.

   Like the repeating bands of color in a candy cane.

   The skein showed a regular clouding of green and gold from end to end.

   Knitters value yarn whose clouding lines up into a steady pattern.

   Similarvariegation, striping

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