PLAINING
Verb
plaining
present participle of plain
Noun
plaining (plural plainings)
A lamentation.
Source: Wiktionary
Plain"ing, n.
Definition: Complaint. [Poetic] Shak.
Plain"ing, a.
Definition: Complaining. [Poetic] Bryant.
PLAIN
Plain, v. i. Etym: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]
Definition: To lament; to bewail; to complain. [Archaic & Poetic] Milton.
We with piteous heart unto you pleyne. Chaucer.
Plain, v. t.
Definition: To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss. [Archaic &
Poetic] Sir J. Harrington.
Plain, a. [Compar. Plainer; superl. Plainest.] Etym: [F., level,
flat, fr. L. planus, perhaps akin to E. floor. Cf. Llano, Piano,
Plan, Plane level, a level surface.]
1. Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See
Plane.
The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Isa.
xl. 4.
2. Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
Our troops beat an army in plain fight. Felton.
3. Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear;
unmistakable. "'T is a plain case." Shak.
4.
(a) Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious
embellishment; not rich; simple.
(b) Not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or
pretension; simple; natural; homely; common. "Plain yet pious
Christians." Hammond. "The plain people." A. Lincoln.
(c) Free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless;
honest; frank. "An honest mind, and plain." Shak.
(d) Not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food.
(e) Without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman.
(f) Not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin.
(g) Not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune. Plain battle,
open battle; pitched battle. [Obs.] Chaucer.
– Plain chant (Mus.) Same as Plain song, below.
– Plain chart (Naut.), a chart laid down on Mercator's projection.
– Plain dealer. (a) One who practices plain dealing. (b) A
simpleton. [Obs.] Shak.
– Plain dealing. See under Dealing.
– Plain molding (Join.), molding of which the surfaces are plain
figures.
– Plain sewing, sewing of seams by simple and common stitches, in
distinct from fancy work, embroidery, etc.; -- distinguished also
from designing and fitting garments.
– Plain song. (a) The Gregorian chant, or canto fermo; the
prescribed melody of the Roman Catholic service, sung in unison, in
tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an
octave. (b) A simple melody.
– Plain speaking, plainness or bluntness of speech.
Syn.
– Level; flat; smooth; open; artless; unaffected; undisguised;
frank; sincere; honest; candid; ingenuous; unembellished; downright;
blunt; clear; simple; distinct; manifest; obvious; apparent. See
Manifest.
Plain, adv.
Definition: In a plain manner; plainly. "To speak short and pleyn."
Chaucer. "To tell you plain." Shak.
Plain, n. Etym: [Cf. OF. plaigne, F. plaine. See Plain, a.]
1. Level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with
an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, the
plain of Jordan; the American plains, or prairies.
Descending fro the mountain into playn. Chaucer.
Him the Ammonite Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain. Milton.
2. A field of battle. [Obs.] Arbuthnot.
Lead forth my soldiers to the plain. Shak.
Plain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plained (; p. pr. & vb. n. Plaining.]
Etym: [Cf. Plane, v.]
1. To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface. [R.]
We would rake Europe rather, plain the East. Wither.
2. To make plain or manifest; to explain.
What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech. Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition