raking1 (raking)

[ n. of rakel, v.] 1. The art of using a rake; a gathering or clearance with or as if with a rake; also, that which is raked or raked up. But such a raking was never seen As the raking o' the Rullien Green. Battle of Pentland Hills (Child's Ballads, VII. 242). 2. The act of raking into or exploring something; hence, hence, a rigid scrutiny or examination; a depreciatory overhauling; censorious crit i cism. The average common school received a raking which would even gratify the sharp-set critical appetite. Jour. of Education , XVIII. 136. But when they found, as they soon did, that the beaut i le of plunder,. they declared first neutrality, then adhesion. Whyte Melville, White Rose, II. i.