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



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Word of the Day

29 March 2025

THOUGHTLESS

(adjective) without care or thought for others; “the thoughtless saying of a great princess on being informed that the people had no bread; ‘Let them eat cake’”


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Coffee Trivia

The world’s most expensive coffee costs more than US$700 per kilogram. Asian palm civet – a cat-like creature in Indonesia, eats fruits, including select coffee cherries. It excretes partially digested seeds that produce a smooth, less acidic brew of coffee called kopi luwak.

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