Noah Webster
Coloring
COLORING, participle present tense
1. Dying; staining; tinging.
2. Giving a fair external appearance; palliating; excusing.
COLORING, noun
1. The act or art of dyeing; the state of being colored; color.
2. A specious appearance; fair artificial representation; as, the story has a coloring of truth.
3. Among painters, the manner of applying colors; or the mixture of light and shade, formed by the various colors employed.