furring

Pluralfurrings (some meanings)

1. 1
   noununcountable

   Strips of material attached to a wall to prepare it for plastering or to provide an air space.

   The carpenter applied furring before the lath went up.

   Metal furring kept the drywall a clean inch off the damp masonry.

   Similarbattens, battening, strapping

   Note

   Builders use the word both ways: a furring is one strip, while furring without an article is the whole run of them, in wood or metal. The strips do two different jobs. They give plaster or drywall a level plane over uneven masonry, or they hold the finish off a damp wall to leave an air space behind it.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A coating that builds up on a surface and resembles fur in texture or appearance.

   Hard water left a chalky furring inside the pipes.

   A white furring coated the tongue, a clear sign of his illness.

   Similarcoating, deposit, scale, film, crust

   Note

   The coating can be counted as a single layer: a furring of the tongue, a chalky furring inside pipes. With an article and of, it names one deposit on one surface. Without them, it is the stuff in general. Behind it stands the intransitive verb: a tongue or a pipe furs, and what it grows is a furring.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The portions of a garment that are made from fur, such as collars, cuffs, or linings.

   The medieval gown's furring marked the wealth of its owner.

   Moths had damaged the furring along the coat's hem.

   Similartrim, trimming

4. 4
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of fur.

   The contractor was furring out the walls to make room for insulation.

   Builders spent the morning furring the ceiling joists.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs. As the -ing form of the verb fur, it works transitively, as when builders are furring the joists, and intransitively, as when arteries go on furring with deposits. The noun furring shares the spelling but takes a plural, furrings. The builder's verb is defined through the plastering strip: to fur a surface is to level it by applying furring.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   A second, outer layer of planking fastened over the side of a ship.

   The vessel's furring had rotted after decades at sea.

   Carpenters fitted furring over the original hull planks.

   Note

   The shipwright's version of the builder's strip is material laid over a structure rather than built into it. On a wooden vessel, the extra course of planking thickens the hull side. It was often added during repair to restore the ship's form, so the furring and the original planks underneath are spoken of as separate layers.

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