Definition of "furring" [fur•ring]

• Trimming or lining made of fur. (noun)
• A furlike coating, as on the tongue. (noun)
• The preparation of a wall, ceiling, or floor with strips of wood or metal to provide a level substratum for plaster, flooring, or another surface or to create an air space. (noun)
• Strips of material used in this process. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Temporarily hard water may be softened by boiling; the lime will be deposited, as may be seen in the "furring" of tea-kettles."
• "Also, is anyone worried about the pipes furring up…"
• "We used ipe wood strips as the skin of the structure, the ipe wood skin is devised as a double wall system, in which horizontal ipe strips are placed over vertical, furring strips."