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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Leavening

Leavening \Leav"en*ing\, n.

  1. The act of making light, or causing to ferment, by means of leaven.

  2. That which leavens or makes light.
    --Bacon.

Leavening

Leaven \Leav"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Leavened; p. pr. & vb. n. Leavening.]

  1. To make light by the action of leaven; to cause to ferment.

    A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
    --1 Cor. v. 6.

  2. To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.

    With these and the like deceivable doctrines, he leavens also his prayer.
    --Milton.

Wiktionary
leavening

a. made light by aeration n. a leavening agent

WordNet
leavening
  1. n. an influence that works subtly to lighten or modify something; "his sermons benefited from a leavening of humor" [syn: leaven]

  2. a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquid [syn: leaven]

Usage examples of "leavening".

With Alex gone, everything had the feel of bread dough with the leavening left out.

But an analogy is not an explanation, and why a few drops of yeast should change a saccharine mixture to carbonic acid and alcohol,--a little leaven leavening the whole lump,--not by combining with it, but by setting a movement at work, we not only cannot explain, but the fact is such an exception to the recognized laws of combination that Liebig is unwilling to admit the new force at all to which Berzelius had given the name so generally accepted.

Populist party is to prove itself capable of amalgamating a great national political organization or whether its work is to be done through a leavening of the old parties to a more or less extent with its doctrines and ideas, remains to be seen.

She would warrant he was having no trouble with leavening under his tight braies now.

Mrs Leavening writes that they mean to put up at the York House while they look about them for lodgings, and depend upon us to advise them, for they were never in Bath before, you know!

Mr and Mrs Leavening were expected to arrive that day at York House they had not yet done so, and were scarcely looked for until dinner-time.

She said nothing about it, merely assuring Selina that she had left a note at York House, to be delivered to Mrs Leavening upon her arrival.

Mrs Leavening how she had prospered that morning in her search for lodgings, he had no difficulty in obeying this behest.

The only difficulty he experienced was how to extricate himself from a discussion of all the merits, and demerits, of the several sets of apartments Mrs Leavening had inspected.

But having agreed with Selina that Axford Buildings were situated in a horrid part of the town, and with Mrs Leavening that Gay Street was too steep for elderly persons, he laughed, and disclosed with disarming candour that he knew nothing of either locality.

The next piece of Bath news came from Mrs Leavening, and interested her too much.

The only way the associated life of such a community can be radically improved is by the leavening of the inert popular mass.