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Possible definitions for wenching

etching
Method of engraving in which lines or textures are bitten, or etched, into a metal plate, usually copper, with acid. The image produced has a spontaneity of line that comes from drawing on the plate in the same direct way as with pen or pencil on paper. The first etchings date from the early 16th cent., but the basic principle had been used earlier for the decoration of armor. Among the pioneers of the medium were A. Altdorfer, A. Dü rer, and Parmigianino; the greatest of all etchers was Rembrandt. In the 20th cent., etching has been especially popular for book illustration. See also aquatint, engraving.


fencing
Sport involving attack and defense with a light sword, specifically a foil, é pé e, or saber that has a covered point. There is evidence of swordplay in ancient times, but it died out during the Middle Ages. In the 14th cent. swordplay became important both in war and the European gentleman's daily life, and by the 15th cent. guilds of fencing masters had formed. Strokes that were originally jealously guarded secrets of the individual guilds eventually became orthodox fencing moves. By the later 17th cent., various rules and conventions had been imposed. In modern competition, hits are made with the point only, except in saber matches, and, in matches using é pé es, are restricted to certain areas of the body. Defense is effected by the blade. Each valid hit scores one or more points, depending on which part of the opponent's body is struck. Men's fencing was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, women's in the 1924 games. Electrical scoring was introduced in 1936 to eliminate the frequent inaccuracy of human judgment.


leaching
Loss of soluble substances and colloids from the top layer of soil by percolating precipitation. The materials are carried downward and are generally redeposited in a lower layer. This transport results in a porous and open top layer and a dense, compact lower layer. In areas of extensive leaching, the remaining quartz and hydroxides of iron, manganese, and aluminum form laterite. In such areas rapid bacterial action results in the absence of humus in the soil, because fallen plant material is oxidized and the products are leached away.


lynching
Execution of a presumed offender by a mob without trial, under the pretense of administering justice. It sometimes involves torturing the victim and mutilating the body. Lynching has often occurred under unsettled conditions. The term derives from the name of Charles Lynch, a Virginian who headed an irregular court to persecute Loyalists during the Amer. Revolution. In the U.S., lynching was widely used in the post-Reconstruction South against blacks, often to intimidate other blacks from exercising their civil rights.


teaching
Profession of those who give instruction, especially in an elementary or secondary school or a university. The teaching ...

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