knobbing

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of knob

plural knobbings

1. A pattern of knobs or lumps.

   These swellings or blunt knobbings form the rachitic rosary.

   1981, Lewis A. Barness, Manual of Pediatric Physical Diagnosis, page 111

   2 more examples

   Consequently, the knobbing is most marked at the costochondral junctions of the ribs, the lower end of the femur , both ends of the fibula and tibia , and the upper end of the humerus .

   1950, Clinical Nutrition, page 454

   Also, the degree of knobbing was too great for the size of the shell.

   2005, T.E. Greene, Worlds Spinning Round: Part 1: Discoveries, page 453

2. The amount by which a bowl is wider in the middle than at the top and bottom.

   This bowl has the same knobbing as the bowls of Group I.

   1981, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, page 25

   1 more example

   The degree of knobbing varies according to the conditions of working and varies between 2 mm . and 8 mm . in circumference .

   1954, The Indian Textile Journal - Volume 65, page 68

3. UKslangvulgarA session of penetrative sexual intercourse or the act of sexual penetration.

   Mark inwardly cringed at the term, especially as their 'knobbing' hadn't been too brilliant, anyway .

   2014, Will Stebbings, Further Off the Mark, page 1

   2 more examples

   A knobbing is over before you know it and no harm done to the family but the shame of a dirty photograph can follow a husband into his grave .

   2013, Miles Gibson, Kingdom Swann: The Story of a Photographer, page 8

   Even when she was knobbing her fiancé's dad, she seemed to be more depressed than evil (which isn't surprising, as most of the knobbing took place in the gents' toilets in the Queen Vic).

   2014, John Grindrod, Shouting at the Telly

4. businessThe process of rough dressing stone; the act of cutting off projecting points from quarried stone.
5. The practice of cutting off the sharp tips of the horns of cattle, leaving rounded knobs.

   Could those that are a little dangerous be rendered harmless by knobbing?

   1892, Ontario. Commission on the Dehorning of Cattle, Report, page 119

   2 more examples

   This assertion is only partially true, and the facility with which "knobbing" can be practiced depends upon the kind of tools used and the skill of the operator , and even allowing that "knobbing" did take up more time , it 1 would be a poor argument in defense of cruelty .

   1888, T. Walley, “A Different View of the Dehorning Question”, in Annual Report - Volume 14, page 207

   Is this not abundant proof that dishorning is not necessary for the benefit of the animal, or to render it fit for all the legitimate purposes of its owner, and that tipping or knobbing has been found to be, and is, practically sufficient?

   1889, The Law Journal Reports: New Series - Volumes 58-60, page 153