rodding

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of rod.

   He was rodding the sewer line when the clog finally broke loose.

   Rodding the pipes regularly keeps them from backing up.

   Note

   The -ing form of the verb doubles the final d, as short verbs like rod do. As a gerund it still takes an object (rodding the pipes), while the noun senses, which can take the plural roddings, name a settled technique. Context matters: rod also has a vulgar slang sense of sexual penetration and a slang use meaning to hot-rod, so a bare rodding in casual talk can be misheard.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The strengthening of concrete by embedding metal rods within it.

   Engineers inspected the rodding before signing off on the bridge supports.

   Without adequate rodding, the concrete beams would fail under tension.

   Similarreinforcement, rebar

   Note

   Concrete holds up well under compression but cracks under tension, and the embedded metal rods take that pulling load, so the finished beam or column resists both. The word covers the work and also the rods once they are in place, which is why engineers can inspect the rodding before a pour is approved. It is the noun matching the verb form in its concrete-reinforcing use.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The insertion of a metal rod or nail into the hollow center of a bone to treat a fracture or deformity.

   Surgeons chose rodding to stabilize the shattered femur.

   Rodding allowed the fractured bone to bear weight much sooner.

   Similarnailing

   Note

   Surgeons call this a kind of intramedullary fixation. The rod or nail runs down the medullary cavity, the marrow canal of a long bone such as the femur, and holds the bone in line from the inside. It serves two ends: setting a fracture and correcting a deformity. Because the support sits within the bone itself, a rodded limb can often bear weight sooner than one held by other means.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A system of connected rods used to transmit motion between the parts of a machine or mechanism.

   The signal levers connect to the points through a long length of rodding.

   Engineers replaced the worn rodding that drove the valve mechanism.

   Similarlinkage

   Note

   On railways the word has a fixed partner, point rodding: the run of rods that carries a signal lever's movement out to the points. It is often measured rather than counted, as in a length of rodding. Long runs need compensators to stay in adjustment, and any fitting that reverses the direction of motion along the rodding acts as one over an equal length on each side.

Showing meanings only. Show all 4