whiting

Etymology 1

white + -ing

noun

1. A fine white chalk used in paints, putty, whitewash etc.
   1918, Hannah Teresa Rowley, Mrs. Helen Louise (Wales) Farrell, Principles of Chemistry Applied to the Household Precipitated calcium carbonate, a very fine powdery form, is used as a basis for many tooth powders and pastes. As whiting it finds a wide use in cleaning metals of their tarnishes.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of white

Etymology 2

From Middle English whityng, whytyng, perhaps an alteration of Old English hwītling (“whiting”), remodelled after white + -ing (diminutive suffix). Related to the colour white. Cognate with Dutch wijting (“whiting”), Old Norse hvítingr (“a kind of whale”).

noun

1. A fish, Merlangius merlangus (family Gadidae), similar to cod, found in the North Atlantic; English whiting (US).
2. Any fish of many species that resemble Merlangius merlangus:
   1. in family Gadidae:
      1. (US) Any of several marine fish found in North American coastal waters, including hakes (genus Merluccius), especially Merluccius bilinearis (the silver hake).
      2. (Canada) Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus, syn. Theragra chalcogramma).
      3. A blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou), a marine fish of the Northern Hemisphere.
      4. A southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis), a marine fish of the Southern Hemisphere.
   2. in family Sillaginidae, smelt-whitings, inhabiting Indo-Pacific marine coasts, many species of which are commercially important whitefish.
   3. in family Sciaenidae, Menticirrhus americanus (Carolina whiting, king whiting, southern kingcroaker, and southern kingfish) found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.