sizing
[sahy-zing]
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Origin of sizing
size1
[sahyz]
- the spatial dimensions, proportions, magnitude, or bulk of anything: the size of a farm; the size of the fish you caught.
- considerable or great magnitude: to seek size rather than quality.
- one of a series of graduated measures for articles of manufacture or trade: children's sizes of shoes.
- extent; amount; range: a fortune of great size.
- actual condition, circumstance, or state of affairs: That's about the size of it.
- a number of population or contents: What size is Springfield, Illinois? The size of that last shipment was only a dozen.
- Obsolete. a fixed standard of quality or quantity, as for food or drink.
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- to separate or sort according to size.
- to make of a certain size.
- Metallurgy. to press (a sintered compact) to close tolerances.
- Obsolete. to regulate or control according to a fixed standard.
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- size up, Informal.
- to form an estimate of (a situation, person, etc.); judge: They sized him up with a look.
- to meet a certain standard: He doesn't size up to my expectations.
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- of a size, of the same or similar size: The two poodles are of a size.
- try on for size,
- to put on briefly in order to test the fit of, as a garment or shoes.
- to consider, evaluate, do, or use before taking further action: We'll try the plan on for size to see whether it's practical.
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Origin of size1
1250–1300; (noun) Middle English syse orig., control, regulation, limit < Old French sise, aphetic variant of assise assize; (v.) in part representing late Middle English sisen to regulate (itself partly derivative of the noun, partly aphetic variant of assisen to fix, ordain, assess < Old French assiser, derivative of assise assize), in part derivative of the noun in later senses
Synonym study
1. Size, volume, mass, bulk are terms referring to the extent or dimensions of that which has magnitude and occupies space. Size is the general word: of great size; small in size. Volume often applies to something that has no fixed shape: Smoke has volume. Mass, also, does not suggest shape, but suggests a quantity of matter in a solid body: a mass of concrete. Bulk suggests weight, and often a recognizable, though perhaps unwieldy, shape: the huge bulk of an elephant.
size2
[sahyz]
- any of various gelatinous or glutinous preparations made from glue, starch, etc., used for filling the pores of cloth, paper, etc., or as an adhesive ground for gold leaf on books.
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- to coat or treat with size.
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Origin of size2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sizing
Contemporary Examples
No more wondering why Gap jeans seem to have their own sizing logic.
Men stare at you quietly as you pass through, sizing you up, and taking long careful drags from their cigarettes.
The machine -- clad with a sizing chart -- allows customers to insert money and select an item to be released immediately.
Is Cara Delevingne Responsible For Declining Tweezer Sales?; Miley Cyrus Twerks For Terry RichardsonThe Fashion Beast Team
August 15, 2013
Virtually anyone sitting in the Oval Office would be sizing this up the way he is.
Pictures show Valentini hovering uncomfortably close to the participants, scanning the action, sizing people up.
Historical Examples
We are just sizing up the situation, to find out how much is gone.
Dave Porter At Bear CampEdward Stratemeyer
End grain can be made to stick only by sizing with thin glue to stop the pores.
Handwork in WoodWilliam Noyes
"It can be arranged if you pay in advance," he said, sizing her up.
Nobody's GirlHector Malot
Nor was that veteran questioner long in sizing up the cause.
Tonio, Son of the SierrasCharles King
The leaders paused, and sizing up the situation, came on at a run.
The PromiseJames B. Hendryx
size1
- the dimensions, proportions, amount, or extent of something
- large or great dimensions, etc
- one of a series of graduated measurements, as of clothingshe takes size 4 shoes
- informal state of affairs as summarizedhe's bankrupt, that's the size of it
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- to sort according to size
- (tr) to make or cut to a particular size or sizes
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French sise, shortened from assise assize
usage
The use of -size and -sized after large or small is redundant, except when describing something which is made in specific sizes: a large (not large-size) organization. Similarly, in size is redundant in the expressions large in size and small in size
size2
- Also called: sizing a thin gelatinous mixture, made from glue, clay, or wax, that is used as a sealer or filler on paper, cloth, or plaster surfaces
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- (tr) to treat or coat (a surface) with size
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Word Origin
C15: perhaps from Old French sise; see size 1
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
Word Origin and History for sizing
size
n.
c.1300, "an ordinance to fix the amount of a payment or tax," from Old French sise, shortened form of assise "session, assessment, regulation, manner" (see assize), probably a misdivision of l'assise as la sise. The sense of "extent, amount, volume, magnitude" (c.1300) is from the notion of regulating something by fixing the amount of it (weights, food portions, etc.). Specific sense of "set of dimensions of a manufactured article for sale" is attested from 1590s.
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size
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with sizing
size
In addition to the idiom beginning with size
- size up
also see:
- cut down (to size)
- pick on (someone your own size)
- take down a notch (to size)
- that's about the size of it
- try on (for size)
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.