This page gathers the 382 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Printing”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 2 of 4: from “f” to “mist”.
- f noun Folio, paper and book size (10"-12.5" x 15"-20")
- factotum noun A large decorative printing block with a central space into which any letter can be inserted, used to mark the beginning of a chapter of a…
- fall out verb To fall off due to the quoins holding it in place having become wet and therefore loose.
- fat adj Of a character which enables the compositor to make large wages; said of matter containing blank, cuts, or many leads, etc.
- flower noun Ornamental type used chiefly for borders around pages, cards, etc.
- fly noun The person who took the printed sheets from the press.
- flyboy noun A man employed to clear the printed copies from the printing press.
- folio noun A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages.
- fondu noun The graded shift from one color into another.
- foot noun The bottommost part of a typed or printed page.
- foot stick noun A bevelled piece of furniture placed against the foot of the page, to hold the type in place.
- footstick noun A sloped or beveled piece of wood or metal placed against the foot of a page that is being typeset, and locked in place by quoins.
- form noun The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.
- foxing noun The discoloration of printed material with brown marks.
- friar noun A white or pale patch on a printed page caused by poor inking.
- fudge box noun A mechanical contrivance into which linotype slugs containing late-breaking news are clamped.
- furniture noun The pieces of wood or metal put around pages of type to make proper margins and fill the spaces between the pages and the chase.
- galley noun An oblong tray of wood or brass, with upright sides, for holding type which has been set, or is to be made up, etc.
- gallows noun The rest for the tympan when raised.
- gem noun A size of type between brilliant (4-point) and diamond (4½-point), running 222 lines to the foot.
- german noun A size of type between American and Saxon, 1+¹⁄₂-point type.
- get in verb To produce fewer copies than anticipated.
- go to bed verb Of a newspaper: to finish being prepared for printing.
- gods noun The quadrats used by printers in throwing on the imposing stone, similar to the movement in casting dice.
- gold blocking noun A technique where gold foil or another metallic foil is applied using heat and pressure from an engraved block or die to emboss designs or…
- grass hand noun An additional worker taken on at busy times.
- gravure noun A type of intaglio printing process, in which an image is engraved onto a rotating copper cylinder.
- grease noun Synonym of fat (“work containing much blank, profitable to the compositor”).
- great primer noun The size of type between English and paragon, standardized as 18-point, used in the printing of large-format English bibles.
- guide noun A strip or device to direct the compositor's eye to the line of copy being set.
- guideword noun A word under the right-hand side of the last line on a book page that repeats the first word from the following page.
- gutter noun One of a number of pieces of wood or metal, grooved in the centre, used to separate the pages of type in a form.
- hair stroke noun A fine line drawn out at the top or bottom of a letter.
- halftone noun A picture made by using the process of half-toning.
- handman noun One who assembles printing type by hand.
- headband noun A thin slip of iron on the tympan of a printing press.
- headline noun The line at the top of a page containing the folio or number of the page.
- headpiece noun A decorative page heading used at the start of volumes or chapters.
- headstick noun A straight piece of furniture placed at the head of a form, between the chase and the type.
- hellbox noun A receptacle where cast metal sorts were thrown after printing.
- hickey noun A printing defect caused by foreign matter on the printing surface resulting in a ring where the ink is missing, appearing as a spot of ink…
- homeset noun The type used as a standard by a specific publisher.
- imperial noun A writing paper size measuring 30 × 22 inches, or printing paper measuring 32 × 22 inches.
- impose verb To lay (columns or pages of type, or printing plates) arranged in a proper order on the bed of a press or an imposing stone and secure them…
- imposition noun Arrangement of a printed product’s pages on the printer's sheet so as to have the pages in proper order in the final product.
- impression noun set of copies of a publication printed at one time having the same content, layout, pagination, etc.
- imprimatur noun An official license to publish or print something, especially when censorship applies.
- incunabulum noun A book, single sheet, or image that was printed before the year 1501 in Europe.
- incut noun A note inserted in a reserved space of the text instead of in the main margin.
- inferior noun An inferior letter, figure, or symbol.
- ink up verb To apply ink to a roller in preparation for printing or to coat a roller with a preservative when not in use.
- ink-block noun A block or table onto which the ink is spread, which is then transferred by the rollers or inkballs.
- inkball noun A leather-covered dauber, stuffed with soft, resilient wadding, with a wooden handle, used to ink type forms for printing. A predecessor of…
- intaglio noun Any printing method in which the ink is laid upon the sunken parts of the printing form.
- intertype noun A typecasting machine closely resembling the linotype, and using the same matrices.
- ionic adj Of or relating to a kind of heavy-faced type.
- jeff verb To play or gamble with em quads, throwing them as dice.
- jet noun The sprue of a type, which is broken from it when the type is cold.
- jobber noun A job press or platen press.
- k noun Abbreviation of black.
- keep down verb To refrain from using capital letters more than absolutely necessary.
- keep up verb To use capital letters as much as reasonable.
- keyplate noun The plate that prints the detail in an image.
- kick verb To work a press by impact of the foot on a treadle.
- kicker noun A device that periodically displaces a newspaper from the print production line, to aid in gathering the newspapers into fixed-size bundles.
- knock up verb To straighten up a stack of paper.
- knockout noun An event where a foreground color causes a background color not to print.
- landscape noun a mode of printing where the horizontal sides are longer than the vertical sides
- lay verb To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
- lay down verb To place a sheet in a printing press for printing.
- lay on verb To feed sheets in for printing one by one.
- lead verb To place leads between the lines of.
- lead out verb To pad out (text) by inserting lead slugs between words.
- leader noun A piece of material at the beginning or end of a reel or roll to allow the material to be threaded or fed onto something, as a reel of film…
- lean adj Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.
- leporello noun A style of parallel folding with the folds alternating between front and back; concertina fold.
- letter noun A single type; type, collectively; a style of type.
- letter-high adj Synonym of type-high.
- letter-quality printing noun A printing method that produces solid letters that are as clear or clearer than those produced by a typewriter.
- letteral noun Obsolete form of literal (“a misprint that affects a letter”).
- letterboard noun A board on which matter in type is placed for storage or manipulation.
- letterpress noun The printing process in which ink is applied to the top surface of a raised image area, which is then pressed against paper to transfer the…
- line art noun Artwork to be reproduced with one solid color, contrasted with artwork having tone or shading (halftones), or full color (color…
- line printer noun A high-speed impact printer, most often used by older mainframes, that prints an entire line in a single operation.
- linocut noun A type of woodcut in which a block of linoleum is used for the relief surface; the design cut into the block.
- lock up verb To fasten quoins securely with a mallet and a shooting-stick.
- lockup noun A device for locking type into position for printing.
- macule verb To blur or be blurred; especially to blur or double an impression from type.
- make-ready noun A sheet of paper on which overlays are pasted for printing.
- manchette noun A vertical heading within a newspaper article.
- manifold verb To multiply or reproduce impressions of by a single operation.
- master copy noun The copy that acts as the main or original version among several copies, such as the master proof where changes from other author copies…
- matrix noun In hot metal typesetting, a mold for casting a letter.
- mealiness noun Synonym of foxing: blemishes in a print or printed work.
- meridian noun The size of type between double great primer and canon, standardized as 44-point.
- minikin noun The size of type smaller than brilliant, standardized as 3-point.
- minion noun The size of type between nonpareil and brevier, standardized as 7-point.
- minionette noun A size of type between nonpareil and minion, standardized as 6½-point.
- misregistration noun Incorrect alignment of colors or other elements.
- mist verb To disperse into a mist, accompanying operation of equipment at high speeds.