The process of smoothing or shaping a surface by rubbing it with sandpaper or similar abrasive material. It removes imperfections and prepares surfaces for finishing.
From 'sand' plus the present participle suffix '-ing'. The use of sand as an abrasive dates to ancient times, though modern sandpaper was invented in the 13th century using crushed shells and sand stuck to parchment.
Despite its name, most modern 'sandpaper' contains no sand at all - it uses synthetic abrasives like aluminum oxide. The name persists as a linguistic fossil from earlier, grittier times!
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