pitying

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of pity

plural pityings

1. The act of one who pities.

   Oh! the unspeakable privilege to have Him for our Father, who is the Father of mercies and compassions, and those not barren, fruitless pityings, for He is withal the God of all consolations.

   1849, Robert Leighton (Archbishop of Glasgow), A practical commentary upon the first Epistle of St. Peter (page 47)

2. collectiverareA flock of doves.

   The malady left my body as a pitying of doves as I slept.

   1963, Lynn Crosbie, Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Toronto, Ontario: House of Anansi Press

   2 more examples

   Settle in their cleanness/a pitying of doves who know hawkfear

   1975, Aeschylus, translated by Janet Lembke, The Suppliants, Oxford University Press

   If you want to represent a smaller swam, such as a pitying of doves, substitute the following statistics...

   2006, Tome of Magic, Wizards of the Coast