*erling*

‖n. [ It. ] The papal chamberlain; the cardinal who presides over the pope's household. He has at times possessed great power. [ Written also camerlengo and camarlengo. ]

n. The frill to the breast of a shirt, which when ironed out resembled the small entrails. See Chitterlings. [ Obs. ] Gascoigne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Cf. AS. cwiþ womb, Icel. kvið, Goth. qiþus, belly, womb, stomach, G. kutteln chitterlings. ] (Cookery) The smaller intestines of swine, etc., fried for food. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A dwarf; a dandiprat. [ r. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Sterling. ] 1. A native of a country eastward of another; -- used, by the English, of traders or others from the coasts of the Baltic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Merchants of Norway, Denmark, . . . called . . . Easterlings because they lie east in respect of us. Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A piece of money coined in the east by Richard II. of England. Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zoöl.) The smew. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to the money of the Easterlings, or Baltic traders. See Sterling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Finger + -ling. ] (Zool.) A young salmon. See Parr. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. fōstorling. ] A foster child. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. hinderling one who comes behind his ancestors, fr. AS. hinder behind. See Hinder, a., and cf. Hilding. ] A worthless, base, degenerate person or animal. [ Obs. ] Callander.

/mhw>, n. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] (Zool.) The young of the sea trout. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A language used as an intermediate language in translating from a source language to a target language; -- used especially in machine translation by computers; as, some machine translation systems use Esperanto as an interlingua. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) The European whiting. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to linger; to detain too long. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A young oyster. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A rivulet. [ R. ] Sylvester. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sand + -ling. So called because it obtains its food by searching the moist sands of the seashore. ] (Zool.) A small gray and brown sandpiper (Calidris arenaria) very common on sandy beaches in America, Europe, and Asia. Called also curwillet, sand lark, stint, and ruddy plover. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Scatter + -ling. ] One who has no fixed habitation or residence; a vagabond. [ Obs. ] “Foreign scatterlings.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A small silver coin. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A thousand vines at a thousand silverings. Isa. vii. 23. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Sparling. ] (Zool.) (a) A smelt; a sparling. [ Prov. Eng. ] (b) A young herring. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A young or small steer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Engin.) Same as Starling, 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. sterlynge, starling, for easterling, LL. esterlingus, probably from Easterling, once the popular name of German trades in England, whose money was of the purest quality: cf. MHG. sterlink a certain coin. Cf. East. “Certain merchants of Norwaie, Denmarke, and of others those parties, called Ostomanni, or (as in our vulgar language we tearme them), easterlings, because they lie east in respect of us.” Holinshed. “In the time of . . . King Richard the First, monie coined in the east parts of Germanie began to be of especiall request in England for the puritie thereof, and was called Easterling monie, as all inhabitants of those parts were called Easterlings, and shortly after some of that countrie, skillful in mint matters and allaies, were sent for into this realme to bring the coine to perfection; which since that time was called of them sterling, for Easterling.” Camden. “Four thousand pound of sterlings.” R. of Gloucester. ] 1. Any English coin of standard value; coined money. [ 1913 Webster ]

So that ye offer nobles or sterlings. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

And Roman wealth in English sterling view. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A certain standard of quality or value for money. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sterling was the known and approved standard in England, in all probability, from the beginning of King Henry the Second's reign. S. M. Leake. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Belonging to, or relating to, the standard British money of account, or the British coinage; as, a pound sterling; a shilling sterling; a penny sterling; -- now chiefly applied to the lawful money of England; but sterling cost, sterling value, are used. “With sterling money.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Genuine; pure; of excellent quality; conforming to the highest standard; of full value; as, a work of sterling merit; a man of sterling good sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One made tender by too much kindness; a fondling. [ R. ] W. Harrison (1586). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) One of the first antlers of a deer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Timber + -ling. ] A small tree. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Under + -ling. ] 1. An inferior person or agent; a subordinate; a low-ranking employee. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, A mean, sorry fellow. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]