oncoming

plural oncomings

1. Approach, onset

   Some man that wayfaring was stood by housedoor at night's oncoming.

   1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 14: Oxen of the Sun]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 368

   3 more examples

   When she saw the oncoming of the armed men, with the King shining at their head, Little-Foot was again thrown into terror and begged her brother to escape while there was yet time […]

   1923, Powys Mathers, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Rendered into English from the Literal and Complete French Translation of Dr. J. C. Mardrus, volume IV, London: Routledge, published 2005, page 192

   Instead, the sound of muffled drums Inside myself: I have to lean And listen as my strength succumbs, To hear what these oncomings mean.

   1924, D. H. Lawrence, “Jimmy and the Desperate Woman”, in The Complete Short Stories, volume 3, Penguin, published 1977, page 609

   […] And Wouldn't slow for the hauled reins, his name, Or shouts of walkers: crossroad traffic Stalling curbside at his oncoming The world subdued to his run of it.

   1958, Sylvia Plath, “Whiteness I Remember”, in The Collected Poems, New York: Harper & Row, published 1981, page 103

1. not comparableapproaching; coming closer

   Look carefully before pulling out into oncoming traffic.

   5 more examples

   1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XIII, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600641.txt The attack was made so unexpectedly that Garfield had no time to escape the oncoming spears, three of which struck him in the body.

   A bitter easterly breeze blew with a threat of oncoming winter.

   1937, J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 13, in The Hobbit, Ballantine, published 1982, page 242

   For example, when trailers containing new automobiles were first piggybacked two areas of potential damage became evident: (1) diesel locomotive exhaust left a film of oil on the new autos; and (2) auto windshields could be scarred or cracked by the metal-tipped "tell-tales" which warn men atop trains of oncoming bridges or tunnels.

   1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 684

   A healthier, stronger individual can deal with it better and is less frightened by oncoming death when it is still "miles away" than when it "is right in front of the door," as one of our patients put it so appropriately.

   1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying, New York: Scribner, published 2003, pages 52–3

   Because it had not taken place immediately, the oncoming fight would lack spontaneity; it would be calculated, uninspired, and deadly.

   1970, Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, New York: Vintage, published 2007, page 40

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of oncome