Gath"er*ing, n.
1.
The act of collecting or bringing together.
2.
That which is gathered, collected, or brought together
; as: (a)
A crowd; an assembly; a congregation.
(b)
A charitable contribution; a collection.
(c)
A tumor or boil suppurated or maturated; an abscess.
© Webster 1913.
Gath"er*ing, a.
Assembling; collecting; used for gathering or concentrating.
Gathering board Bookbinding, a table or board on which signatures are gathered or assembled, to form a book. Knight. -- Gathering coal, a lighted coal left smothered in embers over night, about which kindling wood is gathered in the morning. -- Gathering hoop, a hoop used by coopers to draw together the ends of barrel staves, to allow the hoops to be slipped over them. -- Gathering peat. (a) A piece of peat used as a gathering coal, to preserve a fire. (b) In Scotland, a fiery peat which was sent round by the Borderers as an alarm signal, as the fiery cross was by the Highlanders.
© Webster 1913.