[Ads-l] "spiriting (away)" -- verbal noun not in OED?

[Laurence Horn]

> On Apr 2, 2015, at 10:32 AM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
> 
> If "spiriting"or "spiriting away" (kidnapping; see "spirit v." senses 5.a and 6.a) can be a noun, I don't see it in the OED.  "Spiriting n." is present, but not with the "kidnapping" sense.

I would consider these to be verbs; they take adverbs as modifiers rather than adjectives (e.g. quickly or illegally, not quick or illegal) and don't take an "of" with their objects.  But "the spiriting away of children" would indeed involve a (verbal) noun.  If it's [kidnapping or spiriting away] children, as opposed to [kidnapping] or [spiriting away children] in the OED cite, "kidnapping" would be a verb there too.  In the latter case it would be a noun.  

I'm actually more surprised by "an evidence" below.

LH
> 
> I think the following are examples of "spiriting away" as a noun ... but I defer to superior knowledge on how to distinguish a verb from a verbal noun.
> 
> Under "ˈkidˈnapping  n. and adj.":  1682   N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 187   The witnesses..were..to prove that there was..such a trade as kidnapping or spiriting away children.  [If here "kidnapping" is a noun, then so should be "spiriting away"?  Or is "kidnapping" a noun but "kidnapping children" would not be?]
> 
> Under "evidence, n.":  1731   Gentleman's Mag. 1 218   The Lady Lawley was sentenced to be imprisoned one month for spiriting away an evidence.
> There are several other quotations in the OED for "spiriting (away)" that I suspect are verbal nouns.
> Joel
> 
> 
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