WIELDING
Verb
wielding
present participle of wield
Source: Wiktionary
Wield"ing, n.
Definition: Power; authority; rule. [Obs.]
To have them in your might and in your wielding. Chaucer.
WIELD
Wield, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wielded; p. pr. & vb. n. Wielding.] Etym:
[OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan,
gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten,
OHG. waltan, Icel. valda, Sw. vålla to occasion, to cause, Dan.
volde, Goth. waldan to govern, rule, L. valere to be strong. Cf.
Herald, Valiant.]
1. To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess.
[Obs.]
When a strong armed man keepeth his house, all things that he
wieldeth ben in peace. Wyclif (Luke xi. 21).
Wile [ne will] ye wield gold neither silver ne money in your girdles.
Wyclif (Matt. x. 9.)
2. To direct or regulate by influence or authority; to manage; to
control; to sway.
The famous orators . . . whose resistless eloquence Wielded at will
that fierce democraty. Milton.
Her newborn power was wielded from the first by unprincipled and
ambitions men. De Quincey.
3. To use with full command or power, as a thing not too heavy for
the holder; to manage; to handle; hence, to use or employ; as, to
wield a sword; to wield the scepter.
Base Hungarian wight! wilt thou the spigot wield! Shak.
Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed. Milton.
Nothing but the influence of a civilized power could induce a savage
to wield a spade. S. S. Smith.
To wield the scepter, to govern with supreme command.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition