Lungeing

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Making a sudden forward thrust of the body or a weapon ; training a horse by making it move in a circle on a long rope
2. Driving the body or a blade forward in a quick, sharp movement ; working a horse round in circles at the end of a long line
3. Plunging forward abruptly toward someone or something ; guiding a horse in a circle on a lead rein for exercise and training

Etymology: "Lungeing" is the form of "lunge" used with "-ing" (in British spelling, with the e kept before the suffix), so it inherits the whole history of the verb and noun. "Lunge" came into English from French "allonge", a word meaning an extension or a reach, and the two forms remain doublets of each other, one French and one English. The French word traces back through Old French "alongier", meaning to lengthen, to Vulgar Latin "allongare", which combined "ad" with "longare", to make long, from Latin "longus", long. The original sense is therefore literal stretching: to make something longer, or to reach outward. The idea of a sudden thrust forward is that same reaching motion compressed into a quick movement, which is why the word carries the image of a body extending its length in one burst. The "-ing" ending simply turns the verb into a continuous action, so "lungeing" describes that thrust as it happens.

Synonyms: thrust, lurch, dive, leap