reekingn.1
/ˈriːkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrikɪŋ/ That which is exhaled or emitted, as smoke, vapour, breath, etc.; a cloud or wreath of this, spec. a (strong or unpleasant) fume. Later: the action or process of reek v.1; (also) an instance of this. Now rare.Recorded earliest in reeking penny n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour
reekeOE
rokec1330
vapourc1374
fumec1400
reeking1401
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > products of burning > [noun] > smoke
reekeOE
smeecheOE
smokec1000
smeekc1175
smeeksa1225
roke1292
smitchc1330
fume?a1400
reeking1401
fumee1481
fumierc1500
smook?a1513
suffumigation1567
suffumige1666
fog1728
1401–2 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1901) III. 603 (MED) De 5 s. 6 d. de Rekyngpenys de Wyuestowe, Harton, et Scheles.
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 103 Rekynge, fumositas, fumiditas.
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos ii. sig. E.iij Mixt with dust & smoke thick streames of reekings rise.
a1596 G. Peele Loue King Dauid & Fair Bethsabe (1599) sig. Fiv Or would my breath were made the smoke of hell, Infected with the sighs of damned soules, Or with the reeking of that serpents gorge, That feeds on adders, toads, and venomous roots.
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Vapor, Moisture, ayre, hote breath, or reaking.
1607 T. Tomkis Lingua ii. i. sig. C4 I had rather here the merry hacking of pot-hearbs, and see the reaking of a hot capon.
1651 T. Randolph et al. Hey for Honesty iv. i. 28 There is such a smoak from the reaking of the roast, that though it please my stomack, my eyes are offended with it.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 90 The least steams or reekings of bodies.
1705 A. van Leeuwenhoek in Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 1856 A great Hay-rick upon Salisbury Plain, after some Reaking and Fermentation took fire, and was wholly consum'd.
1796 N. Salmon Stemmata Latinitatis II. 733 Vapor-ōris, an exhalation, a vapour, a reeking, a steam.
1830 Olio 11 Dec. 408/1 The reeking of the many cook-shops which I passed mocked my hunger.
1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron Index 531/1 Reeking of ingot-moulds.
1921 C. C. Gow Electro-metallurgy of Steel ix. 188 When tar is used for reeking it is better to clean the mould while still hot from a previous cast.
1991 N. Mudrooroo Master of Ghost Dreaming iv. 53 It was a sort of musty smell, a reeking of decay.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > benefice > other financial matters > [noun] > church dues > payment by every house in parish
reek penny1255
reeking penny1401
1401-2 [see main sense].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† reekingn.2
Scottish. Obsolete.
1. The action of reek v.2 Frequently with out, forth. Cf. outreiking n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > fitting out or equipping ships
tackling1486
trimming1519
reeking1565
1565 Thirds of Benefices 191 To the reking oute expenses and furnessing of the twa schippis, thair kippages, cumpanyes and men of weare.
1572 in C. T. McInnes Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1970) XII. 314 For furnesing and reiking of hir to the sey in capitane, skipper and marineris feis, viveris, victuallis and uthiris necessaris.
1595 Acct. Bk. W. Morton f. 6v For the chelderis deneris at the reking of our schepe.
1628 in P. H. Brown Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1900) 2nd Ser. II. 584 For outred and recking furth of his majesties schip.
1666 J. Lamont Diary (1830) 193 Divers persons..contributed to the reaking owt of lesser vessels to be Capers.
2. A ship's furnishings and equipment; (also) rigging. In later use also: household equipment (rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun]
tacklea1300
tacklingc1422
cordaille1484
riga1572
rigging1594
cordage1598
riggage1627
reeking1640
gear1669
1640 in D. Cook Ann. Pittenweem (1867) 43 His ship carriet to Berwick, where she yett lyes, and the said ship and reiking with her victuals was worth, £150.
1666 Edinb. Test. LXXII. f. 225, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Reking Tuo old boats with their reiking.
1712 Burgh Rec. Montrose 13 Apr. in Sc. National Dict. at Reik All the Reiking and other things that were saved from on board the said ship.
1839 Wilson's Hist. Tales Borders V. 50 Nelly..wad mak a better wife than ony o' thae young glaikit hizzies wha carried a' their reikin to the kirk on their back ilka Sabbath.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
reekingadj.adv.
/ˈriːkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrikɪŋ/ A. adj.
1.
a. Of something burning or smouldering: producing or giving off smoke. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > products of burning > [adjective] > relating to smoke > emitting smoke
reekingOE
smoky1310
smokingc1374
smooking?a1513
fumish1574
smouldering1577
smeekyc1600
smudgy1878
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xii. 20 [Linum] fumigans non extinguet: recende uel smecende ne drysnes.
1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 302 Rekynge, fumalis.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxvii. 2 Reke cumes of the flawm, and in passynge vp it witis away, swa wickidmen cumes vp of the rekand flawm of couaitis.
c1605–6 J. Welsh Forty-eight Sel. Serm. (1771) 451 Thou that hast this meikle..like the smoking flax or reiking tow.
1723 J. Hughes tr. Claudian Rape of Proserpine (ed. 2) iii. 76 Youths reeking ashes, and the glowing bones, And blazing Torches, which before their Sons The weeping Parents bear, her wonted Prey, she fiercely seizes, and conveys away.
1782 T. Horde Female Pedant i. 7 My imagination was in flames, and it bounced from me like a chestnut from the reeking embers.
1815 R. Johnston Trav. Part of Russ. Empire (1816) i. 27 The suburbs..contained ten thousand individuals; all of whom were barbarously banished from the reeking ruins of their houses.
1851 Belfast News-let. 30 June Here a widow knelt upon the reeking ashes of her homestead, and mourned.
1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders I. ix. 176 The boy in the background waved a reeking candlestick in his delight.
1918 S. Sassoon Counter-attack 9 Nothing blossoms but the sky That hastens over them where they endure Sad, smoking, flat horizons, reeking woods, And foundered trench-lines.
b. Of a chimney, or a thing that contains something burning or smouldering: that emits or discharges smoke; spec. (Scottish): designating an inhabited house, esp. as incurring rent; frequently in reeking house (cf. reek n.1 1d).
ΚΠ
OE Wulfstan Homily: Be Mistlican Gelimpan (Tiber. A.iii) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 173 Sceote man ælmessan, be þam þe man geræde, swa æt soluh penig, swa sylflende hlaf æt hreocendum heorþe.
1647 in A. M. Munro Rec. Old Aberdeen (1899) I. 78 Ricking hous.
1669 tr. A. Kircher Vulcano's i. 2 We see fire struck forth from the conflict and attrition of stones; and the reeking earth to smoke upon every new digging, especially if deep.
1698 in C. M. Armet Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court Deeds (1953) II. 824 Ricking house.
?1780 'Merry Andrew at Tam-Tallan' Antient & New Hist. Buck-Haven (new ed.) ii. 15 A reiking house and a rocking cradle.
1795 J. Kennedy Treason!!! or not Treason!!! 29 Wee feckless thing! what gart thee come An' dander down my reeking lum?
1818 Ld. Byron Beppo xl. 21 That sort of farthing candlelight which glimmers Where reeking London's smoky cauldron simmers.
1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1842) 77 Where the shepherd's reeking cot Peeps from the broomy glen.
1849 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers (1851) iii. 43 The reeking engine-funnel of an up-train is seen darting out of the tunnel.
1897 R. Kipling in Times 17 July 13/6 For heathen heart that puts her trust In reeking tube and iron shard.
1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 12 Nae a reekin' hoose in sicht.
1938 C. Day Lewis Overtures to Death 44 Galdames Emerged out of the mist that lingered to the west Under the reeking muzzles of the rebel battleship.
1996 Scotsman (Nexis) 20 Dec. 14 If you're inclined to pour your dram away, think again. You are more likely to contract cancer from a reeking lum, a barbecued hamburger or an Arbroath smokie, than you are from Islay's finest.
2. That emits vapour or steam, esp. under the influence of heat; steaming.† a. Of water or a wet or damp surface or object. Also figurative. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [adjective] > that emits or relating to moist vapour
reekingOE
reekya1500
evaporating1597
steaminga1637
steamy1644
exhaling1766
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 170 Agnes..þæra maðma ne rohte þe ma þe reocendes meoxes.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 79 Salt water, and bitter, and rekand [c1475 Tripolitanus abbrev. muddy; L. fumose], ar euyl.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 97 Breathing forth vapors out of reeking rockes.
1757 J. Dyer Fleece i. 23 Nor ope the wattled fence, while balmy morn Lies on the reeking pasture.
1781 W. Cowper Anti-Thelypthora 93 From many a steaming lake and reeking bog.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 503 The impatient fervour which it first conceives Within its reeking bosom.
1847 ‘Sylvanus’ Rambles in Sweden & Gottland xxviii. 206 Our large and reeking pastures, bathed in early dew, stretch in deep shade beneath the silent wood or dark plantation.
1888 M. E. Braddon Fatal Three I. v. 105 Mr. Porter looked at a reeking heap of stable manure.
b. Chiefly literary. Of corpses or severed body parts. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [adjective] > of the nature of fumes or vapour > full of or emitting fumes or vapour > specifically of dead bodies, etc., while warm
reekingOE
OE Judith 313 Cirdon cynerofe, wiggend on wiðertrod, wælscel on innan, reocende hræw.
1602 T. Dekker Blurt Master-Constable sig. G2v And kill'd, to hang out his reeking bodie, at his Harlots window.
a1627 H. Shirley Martyr'd Souldier (1638) i. ii. sig. B3v Thou canst guild thy honours Horne from the reeking breasts of Affricans.
1652 O. Felltham Brief Char. Low-Countries 37 One of the Dutch..ript up the Captains body, and with a barbarous hand tore out the yet living heart panting among the reeking bowels.
1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Twelfth Bk. Metamorphoses in Fables 427 The reeking Entrails on the Fire they threw.
1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 214 The Jest of Clowns, his reeking Carcase hangs.
1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 22 Where'er..The obscene birds the reeking remnants cast Of these dead limbs.
1864 J. H. Burton Scot Abroad I. i. 30 A feudal lord..would..warm his feet in their reeking vitals.
1911 T. J. Campbell Pioneer Priests N. Amer. III. 280 Over and over his Abnakis..came back from the warpath stained with English blood, and carrying reeking scalps at their belt.
c. literary. Of freshly shed blood, or of things stained or soaked with this. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [adjective] > of the nature of fumes or vapour > full of or emitting fumes or vapour > specifically of dead bodies, etc., while warm > of blood
reekingOE
OE Prudentius Glosses (Boulogne 189) in H. D. Meritt Old Eng. Prudentius Glosses (1959) 96 [Fibrarum] anhelans [ille uitalis calor [sc. sanguis]] : reocende.
1573 T. Twyne tr. Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos xii. sig. Nnij Their foule black reakinge blood, with channell large doth fall to ground.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. ii. 39 Except they meant to bathe in reeking Wounds. View more context for this quotation
1647 T. Fuller Cause Wounded Conscience iv. 24 Sathan rakes his clawes in the reeking blood of a wounded Conscience.
1695 Ld. Preston tr. Boethius Of Consol. Philos. iv. 186 They..stain their Swords in their own reeking Gore.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xvii. 415 A sanguine Torrent steeps the reeking Ground.
1750 W. Whitehead Roman Father ii. i. 25 Whose temper'd Edge has cleft their haughty Crests, And stain'd with Life-blood many a reeking Plain.
1789 E. Hands Death of Amnon v From the Prince's side Gush'd forth life's reeking stream.
a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) II. 352 From out the reeking wound.
1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades i. 19 With the reeking blade Wet with the heart's blood of my child I smote.
1908 E. Nesbit Ballads & Lyrics Socialism 46 The mailed barbarians laughed aloud To see the brave blood flow..And on the points of reeking spears Tossed babies to and fro.
1936 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 9 509 The God of War has unsheathed his reeking sword and all the world is tense.
2003 Prospect Sept. 61/1 He emerges from the cave with reeking sword in one hand and the head of the monster in the other.
d. Of an animal or person in a heated and perspiring state. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretion of sweat > [adjective] > sweating
swotyc893
sweating1393
reeking1608
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vii. 209 Came there a reeking Post, Stewd in his hast. View more context for this quotation
1735 W. Somervile Chace i. 181 Tumultuous soon they plunge into the Stream, There lave their reeking Sides.
1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 122 Bowing down His reeking head full low.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge ii. 244 Holding the light near to his panting and reeking beast.
1880 W. D. Howells Undiscovered Country xii. 161 The Shaker chirped his reeking horses into a livelier pace.
1920 C. Carswell Open Door! i. v. 75 A mare on the road shied badly..and her rider, bowing before the arrowy rain, punished her reeking flanks viciously with his crop.
1962 E. Pargeter Green Branch x. 227 A courier rode into Aber on a reeking horse.
e. Of hot food or drink. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1789 ‘A. Pasquin’ Poems I. 155 On such rare viands let who wills it dine, Be the rich, reeking, hot Plumb-Pudding mine!
1823 C. Lamb Praise of Chimney-sweepers in Elia 261 Indiscriminate pieces of those reeking sausages.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 7 The stranger..swallowed at a draught full half a pint of the reeking brandy and water.
1928 J. L. R. Baxter A' Ae 'Oo' 25 Tae pree the reekin' toddy!
3. That rises or emanates as smoke, vapour, fume, or odour. Also figurative. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [adjective] > of the nature of fumes or vapour > full of or emitting fumes or vapour
reekingOE
fumosec1400
fuming1575
smokyc1590
vaporous1594
fumid1597
smokinga1616
vapouring1648
fumiferous1656
fumigant1727
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxiii. 370 Hwæt is atelicor geðuht on menniscum gecynde, þonne is ðæs hreoflian lic, mid toðundennesse, & springum, & reocendum stence [L. exhalantibus fetoribus]?
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 386 Eode..forð feorðe healf gear butan renscurum & reocendum deawe.
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. xxxvii. 319 Sume þa [hus] wæron gehrinene mid þy miste þæs fulan stences, þe of þære ea aras, sume na eallinga gehran seo fylnes þæs reocendan & stincendan mistes [L. alia autem exurgens foetor e flumine minime tangebat].
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxxxv. 16 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 228 In flaky mists, the reaking vapors rise.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iii. vii. 92 [Timon] washes it off, and sprinkles in your faces Your reeking villany. View more context for this quotation
1650 S. Sheppard Amandus & Sophronia i. vi. 38 The fumosity of Wine, and the reaking sent of that Indian Weed, now so common in use, began to foment a civill war in their crazed noddles.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 256 In Balmie Sweat, which with his Beames the Sun Soon dri'd, and on the reaking moisture fed. View more context for this quotation
1700 E. Ward Step to Bath 16 The Baths I can compare to nothing but the Boylers in Fleetlane or Old-Bedlam, for they have a reaking steem all the year.
1798 A. Browne Misc. Sketches II. 198 The reeking vapour ascended from the ground, like the smoke of a grateful sacrifice to the God of nature.
1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus i. i. 6 Already I perceive The reeking odours of the perfumed trains.
1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son lv. 548 The entangled equipage, half hidden in the reeking cloud from the horses, goes on slowly.
1899 J. Rodway In Guiana Wilds 33 The great drawback was the reeking moisture.
1995 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 17 Sept. 19 Through the clouds of smoke and reeking steam rising from the crowd I noticed all six ticket offices were open.
4. Giving off, or full of, an unpleasant or unwholesome odour or fume; (now chiefly) giving off a powerful and unpleasant smell; stinking. Also figurative.Now the usual sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > fetor > [adjective]
foul-stinkingOE
poignantc1387
rammishc1395
rank1479
reekya1500
puanta1529
unsavoury1539
uglyc1540
contagious1547
noisome1559
fulsome1576
fetid1599
nasty1601
unsweet1605
rammy1607
stenchful1615
stinkardly1616
rancid1627
reeking1629
pungent1644
olidous1646
stenching1654
graveolent1657
maleolent1657
virous1661
olid1680
ranciduous1688
feculent1703
virose1756
stenchy1757
infragrant1813
inodorous1823
nosy1836
malodorous1850
unfragrant1858
smelly1862
cacodorous1863
stinky1888
funked out1893
niffya1903
whiffy1905
pongy1936
fresh1966
minging1970
bogging1973
bowfing1983
honking1985
1629 W. D'Avenant Trag. Albouine v. sig. Mv Let's to't like Monkeys, or the reeking Goat.
1689 R. Gould Poems 162 First to the Middle-Gallery we'll go..Where reeking Punks like Summer Insects swarm, And stink like Pole-cats when they're hunted warm.
1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. F. Dedekind Grobianus iii. iv. 216 Thy reeking Stockings yield a fragrant Smell.
1832 E. Bulwer-Lytton Eugene Aram I. i. x. 162 Washing the walls of the reeking town.
1847 Amer. Rev. May 446/2 They do not know one twentieth part of the corruption, the feculent, reeking corruption of the government for years past.
1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke I. i. 2 Poor wretches who sit stifled in reeking garrets and workrooms.
1871 F. W. Farrar Witness of Hist. iii. 122 God..purged the pestilence from the reeking atmosphere with fire and storm.
a1906 ‘O. Henry’ Trimmed Lamp (1916) 120 Behold Ikey as he ambles up the street beneath the roaring ‘El’ between the rows of reeking sweatshops.
1937 McClure's Mag. Sept. 498/2 The atmosphere of the forest was almost unbreathable with..its reeking moisture, and its powerful smell of decaying, rotting vegetation.
1978 P. Grace Mutuwhenua vii. 40 The others had home-made biscuits in their parcels or fruit. Oranges, apples, and reeking bananas.
2005 K. MacNeil Stornoway Way Prol. 7 With a great deal of effort and a stolen chainsaw, our crack team..finally hacked the whale's reeking stomach open.
B. adv.
So as to give off smoke, steam, sweat, etc. Frequently in reeking hot. Chiefly as an intensifier. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > [adjective] > having or communicating much heat > very > so as to give off steam
smoking hot1609
reeking hot1615
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 103 Whom reeking hote, with heart yet panting, they greedily devoured.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. J. Walaeus Two Epist. (new ed.) in tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) 359 It comes reaking hot as it were from the fire.
1699 S. Whately tr. Epist. Phalaris App. 224 I Have sent you my Book reeking hot from the Press; which had I never known You I had never written.
1720 C. Shadwell Rotherick O'Connor i, in Wks. I. 285 Whilst her trickling Blood is reeking Hot, I'le open all your Veins, to mix amongst it.
1766 P. Thicknesse Observ. Customs Fr. Nation xviii. 86 I have seen a sailor put a quid of tobacco out of his mouth to sun it for a second regale, and another steal it, and put it reeking hot into his own.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake ii. 63 But can I clasp it reeking red?
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxvii. 276 A glass of reeking hot pine-apple rum and water, with a slice of lemon in it.
1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel III. xliv. 7 His coat reeking wet through was fastened by one button across his chest.
1921 Times 8 Feb. 13/6 It is, in effect, parboiled and packed tight, reeking hot.
1927 Kansas City (Missouri) Star 5 Mar. 20/3 ‘Yellow’ is too mild a term to apply to many daily newspapers. They are red, reeking red.
1992 T. Wolfe Lost Boy 14 And the old horse stood there, reeking wet, and somehow with a look of tired gratefulness.
Derivatives
ˈreekingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > dirtiness or soiling with specific kinds of dirt > [adverb] > dirty with smoke
reekingly1611
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Fumeusement, smoakily, fumingly, reekingly.
1878 Appletons' Jrnl. Mar. 264 It is scarcely more true..than..that the French Revolution was caused by the incapable government and reekingly corrupt court of Louis XVI.
1999 Hispanic Outlook in Higher Educ. (Nexis) 31 Mar. 207 A reekingly racist work which..reduces a grand heritage to twaddle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.11401
n.21565
adj.adv.OE