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

Words nearby composing stick

comportment, compose, composed, composer, composing room, composing stick, composite, composite colour signal, composite family, composite function, composite materials

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use composing stick in a sentence

He did work till midnight; then—in spite of the threat that he would be discharged—he laid down his composing stick on the case.
The Book of Courage|John Thomson Faris
As the type is set up it is removed from the composing-stick to long forms called galleys.
Up To Date Business|Various
I know many actors who are practical printers, fellows who can wield a composing-stick as deftly as a fighting sword.
My Life: or the Adventures of Geo. Thompson|George Thompson
GalleyA shallow tray used by compositors to hold type after the lines have been set and transferred from the composing stick.
Type Cases and Composing-room furniture|A. A. Stewart

Thus we now have the expressions: a "composing-room," a "composing-stick," etc.
Little Journeys To the Homes of the Great, Volume 3 (of 14)|Elbert Hubbard

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