jointing

Pluraljointings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of joint.

   The mason is jointing the brickwork before the rain arrives.

   She enjoys jointing timbers by hand rather than using machines.

   Note

   As a verb form it runs in two opposite directions. In building work it means fitting parts together. In the kitchen it means cutting a carcass apart at its joints, as when jointing a chicken. Both uses are transitive, so the progressive needs an object: jointing the timbers, jointing the bird. The same spelling also serves as a noun for the act of making a joint.

   The butcher was jointing a lamb for the restaurant.

   Jointing the chicken first makes it quicker to cook.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of forming a joint where two parts are connected.

   The jointing of the rafters had to be exact for the roof to sit level.

   Plumbers were praised for the clean jointing of the copper supply lines.

   Similarjoining

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The complete set of joints produced across a piece of work.

   Rain found its way in wherever the jointing had cracked.

   The surveyor noted that the jointing on the south face needed repointing.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The quality or condition of being formed with joints.

   The fine jointing of the insect's legs lets it fold them flat.

   Heavy jointing in the cliff made the granite split into neat blocks.

   Note

   A word for how a whole thing is built, rather than for any single joint. H. G. Wells uses it in The First Men in the Moon (1900–1901), comparing the jointing of the Selenites' limbs to a human's. It is uncountable and usually takes an of-phrase, as in the jointing of the limbs or of the legs, so it describes a structure as a whole, never one joint you could point to.

5. 5
   noun

   The initial grinding of the teeth of a cutting tool, carried out before sharpening.

   A light jointing exposed the worn tips that needed regrinding.

   He finished the jointing, then moved on to setting and filing the teeth.

   Note

   Saw maintenance begins here. Before any tooth is sharpened, the points are ground to a single height so that every tooth cuts at the same level. Despite the shared spelling, it has nothing to do with making joints. This kind of jointing removes metal rather than joining anything, and setting and filing come after it.

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