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composing stick

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noun Printing.
a portable, adjustable, usually metal tray that the compositor holds in one hand while placing in it type gathered with the other hand.
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Also called job stick.

Origin of composing stick

First recorded in 1670–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use composing stick in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for composing stick

composing stick

noun
printing a metal holder of adjustable width in which a compositor sets a line of type at a time by hand; now rarely used
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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