HARPING
Verb
harping
present participle of harp
Noun
harping (plural harpings)
(nautical) singular of harpings.
Source: Wiktionary
Harp"ing, a.
Definition: Pertaining to the harp; as, harping symphonies. Milton.
HARP
Harp, n. Etym: [OE. harpe, AS. hearpe; akin to D. harp, G.harfe, OHG.
harpha, Dan. harpe, Icel. & Sw. harpa.]
1. A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished
with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with
the fingers.
2. (Astron.)
Definition: A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
3. A grain sieve. [Scot.] Æolian harp. See under Æolian. Harp seal
(Zoöl.), an arctic seal (Phoca Groenlandica). The adult males have a
light-colored body, with a harp-shaped mark of black on each side,
and the face and throat black. Called also saddler, and saddleback.
The immature ones are called bluesides.
– Harp shell (Zoöl.), a beautiful marine gastropod shell of the
genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical seas. See Harpa.
Harp, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Harped p. pr. & vb. n. Harping.] Etym: [AS.
hearpian. See Harp, n.]
1. To play on the harp.
I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their harps. Rev. xiv. 2.
2. To dwell on or recur to a subject tediously or monotonously in
speaking or in writing; to refer to something repeatedly or
continually; -- usually with on or upon. "Harpings upon old themes."
W. Irving.
Harping on what I am, Not what he knew I was. Shak.
To harp on one string, to dwell upon one subject with disagreeable or
wearisome persistence. [Collog.]
Harp, v. t.
Definition: To play on, as a harp; to play (a tune) on the harp; to develop
or give expression to by skill and art; to sound forth as from a
harp; to hit upon.
Thou 'harped my fear aright. Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition