siding (siding)

[Verbal n. of sidel, v.] 1 The act of taking sides; the attaching of one's self to a party; division into sides or parties. [Archaic.] Discontents drove men into sidings. Eikon Basilike . As here hath been a faction and siding amongst us now more than two years, so now there is an utter breach and sequestration amongst us. Ma . Hist. Soc., Collections, III. 29. (From Gov. [Bradford's Letter Book.) 2. On railroads, a short additional track placed at the side of a main line, and connected at one or both ends with the main lines of rails by means of switches or points. It serves for enabling trains to pa each other in opposite directions, for withdrawing a slow train to allow a fast train moving in the same direction to pa , and for other uses. 3. The covering or boarding of the sides of a frame building, or the material used for IMG:content-1022.png:[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] A, siding of vertically matched boards a, with battens & nailed over the vertical joints; B, siding of diagonally arranged matched boards: c, studs; d, sheathing of unmatched boards; e, paper sheathing; C, clapboard siding, being rabbeted at the lower mar gins and g ' simply overlapped; c, d, e as in B. that purpose, as weather-boards, or boards or shingles otherwise prepared.-4. The dre ing of timbers to their correct breadth, as in shipbuilding; also, the timbers so dre ed. The a orting of the sidings is subjected to the same general principles in the matter of qualities and widths. U. S. Cons. Rep ., No. lxviii. (1886), p. 597. siding-hook