inkings

Noun

inking (countable and uncountable, plural inkings)

1. An application of ink.
   • In a rotary printing-machine, a cylinder carrying a single relief design, means for imparting successive complete inkings to said design […]1900, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, page 175
2. Work done by an inker, one kind of commercial artist
3. Inputting text or drawings into a computer, tablet, or similar apparatus using a stylus.
4. A defensive activity where ink is released by squids, cuttlefish, etc.
   • Mucus-rich ink is supposedly a dangerous or annoying substance that interferes with fish gills and some cephalopods react adversely to their own inkings in small containers or in the lab. The blue-ringed octopus Hapalochlaena lunulata has tetrodotoxin, the deadly toxin it also releases in a bite...2017 August 9, Mark Carnall, “Why do cephalopods produce ink? And what's ink made of, anyway?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023