'Etching' definitions:

Definition of 'etching'

From: WordNet
noun
An impression made from an etched plate
noun
An etched plate made with the use of acid
noun
Making engraved or etched plates and printing designs from them [syn: engraving, etching]

Definition of 'Etching'

From: GCIDE
  • Etching \Etch"ing\, n.
  • 1. The act, art, or practice of engraving by means of acid which eats away lines or surfaces left unprotected in metal, glass, or the like. See Etch, v. t. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A design carried out by means of the above process; a pattern on metal, glass, etc., produced by etching. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. An impression on paper, parchment, or other material, taken in ink from an etched plate. [1913 Webster]
  • Etching figures (Min.), markings produced on the face of a crystal by the action of an appropriate solvent. They have usually a definite form, and are important as revealing the molecular structure.
  • Etching needle, a sharp-pointed steel instrument with which lines are drawn in the ground or varnish in etching.
  • Etching stitch (Needlework), a stitch used outline embroidery. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Etching'

From: GCIDE
  • Etch \Etch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Etched; p. pr. & vb. n. Etching.] [D. etsen, G. [aum]tzen to feed, corrode, etch. MHG. etzen, causative of ezzen to eat, G. essen ??. See Eat.]
  • 1. To produce, as figures or designs, on mental, glass, or the like, by means of lines or strokes eaten in or corroded by means of some strong acid. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The plate is first covered with varnish, or some other ground capable of resisting the acid, and this is then scored or scratched with a needle, or similar instrument, so as to form the drawing; the plate is then covered with acid, which corrodes the metal in the lines thus laid bare. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To subject to etching; to draw upon and bite with acid, as a plate of metal. [1913 Webster]
  • I was etching a plate at the beginning of 1875. --Hamerton. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To sketch; to delineate. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • There are many empty terms to be found in some learned writes, to which they had recourse to etch out their system. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'etching'

From: Moby Thesaurus