veining

1. 1
   noununcountable

   A pattern of veins or vein-like markings spread across a surface.

   Like the branching channels of a river system seen from high above.

   The sculptor chose a block of stone whose veining swirled in pale gold.

   Delicate veining patterns cover the translucent wings of a dragonfly.

   Similarmarbling, streaking, striation, venation

   Note

   Wood and stone are where the word does most of its work. Joyce's Ulysses (1922) follows the veining of an oaken slab, and Robert Byron's The Byzantine Achievement (1929) describes marble sheets cut and cut again so that each piece's veining forms a symmetrical pattern with its neighbor. It names the whole arrangement rather than a single streak. One streak on its own is simply a vein.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of vein.

   The craftsman is veining the plaster wall to mimic real marble.

   Frost was veining the windowpanes with delicate white tracery overnight.

   Note

   The verb behind it is vein, "to mark with veins or a vein-like pattern," and as a participle it takes a direct object: frost veining the glass, a craftsman veining plaster. That object is the quickest way to tell it from the noun for the pattern itself. The noun has a plural, veinings, and is usually followed by of, as in the veining of the marble.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2