defeatheringn.
/ˌdiːˈfɛð(ə)rɪŋ/, U.S. /diˈfɛð(ə)rɪŋ/ 1. The action of stripping a person of his or her wealth or assets, esp. by dishonest or unscrupulous means. Cf. fleece v. 3. rare.Frequently as part of an extended metaphor.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > loss > taking away > [noun] > fleecing
fleecing1593
skinning1686
defeathering1888
1888 Graphic Summer No. 13/1 These corporations..gather the depredatory birds together, and lead them to prey upon themselves instead of wandering abroad for the defeathering of the innocent and artless.
1909 N.Y. Times 21 Mar. 35/6 A French economist defined..taxation as the art of picking the..feathers from the public goose... But the goose must not be permitted to see the..defeathering operation.
1952 C. E. Dykes in Amer. Cooperation (Amer. Instit. Cooperation) 293 When one considers withholding taxes, hidden taxes, and double taxes,..it is evident that this method of de-feathering has today reached a degree of skill and proficiency never before approached.
2.
a. literal. The action or process of removing feathers, esp. from the carcass of a poultry bird in preparation for cooking, typically by mechanical means. Also: an instance of this. Frequently attributive, as defeathering machine, defeathering tank, etc.
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1898 Rep. Commissioner Agric. & Dairying Canada 1897 viii. 20 The bird is killed instantly. It may work convulsively for some time, but that should not stay the de-feathering, which must be proceeded with at once.
1945 Sci. News Let. 6 Jan. 16/1 Defeathering compound to remove pinfeathers from plucked chickens is available in an improved form.
1946 Amarillo (Texas) Sunday News-Globe 29 Sept. 8/2 A new poultry ‘de-feathering’ machine will take the feathers off 5,000 chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese in one hour.
1968 W. P. Blount Intensive Livestock Farming xxxvi. 536 From a poultry processor's point of view it is important that birds enter the dip tank within about 140–160 seconds, otherwise defeathering is affected adversely.
2001 Lockhart (Texas) Post-Register 25 Jan. 2 b/2 As soon as Mom caught that rascal he suffered from a neck wringing, then a scalding, a defeathering,..and eventually made it to the large pot of boiling water.
2010 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 31 Oct. With controlled-atmosphere killing,..they're [sc. chickens] never scalded to death in defeathering tanks.
b. The shedding of feathers by a bird; spec. loss of feathers on the brood patch on the belly during the breeding season.
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1956 Condor 58 215 In only one of these two gulls was there even a trace of defeathering.
1982 R. Hinde Ethology (1986) viii. §v. 166 (caption) Three aspects of brood patch development (defeathering, vascularization and sensitivity to tactile stimulation, such as that provided by the nest).
1985 Poultry Digest May 197/2 As loss of feather cover can lead directly to increased feed consumption, the poultryman has a major interest in minimizing defeathering.
2001 D. Zumpe & R. P. Michael Notes Elements Behavioral Sci. xiv. 242 The presence of eggs causes prolactin secretion that, together with the estrogens, results in edema and defeathering of a part of the chest called the incubation or brood patch.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1888