Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DRESS'ING, n.

1. Raiment; attire. – B. Jonson.
2. That which is used as an application to a wound or sore.
3. That which is used in preparing land for a crop; manure spread over land. When it remains on the surface, it is called a top-dressing.
4. In popular language, correction; a flogging, or beating.