Gath"er*ing, a. Assembling;
collecting; used for gathering or concentrating.
Gathering board (Bookbinding), a
table or board on which signatures are gathered or assembled, to form
a book. Knight. -- Gathering coal,
a lighted coal left smothered in embers over night, about which
kindling wood is gathered in the morning. -- Gathering
hoop, a hoop used by coopers to draw together the ends
of barrel staves, to allow the hoops to be slipped over them. --
Gathering peat. (a) A piece of
peat used as a gathering coal, to preserve a fire.
(b) In Scotland, a fiery peat which was sent
round by the Borderers as an alarm signal, as the fiery cross was by
the Highlanders.
Gath"er*ing, n. 1.
The act of collecting or bringing together.
2. That which is gathered, collected, or
brought together; as: (a) A crowd; an
assembly; a congregation. (b) A charitable
contribution; a collection. (c) A tumor or
boil suppurated or maturated; an abscess.