An old letterpress failure where individual pieces of lead type slip and drop out of the metal chase while being lifted or printed. It typically happened when the wooden quoins or furniture holding the form together shrank as they dried out, losing their wedge tension.
Heard on the job
Careful lifting that chase off the stone, you have a loose corner and the whole bottom paragraph is going to fall out.
Related terms
Chase
A heavy steel or iron frame used to hold metal type and blocks securely together for printing.
Quoin
An expandable wedge used to lock metal type securely inside a chase.
Furniture
Blocks of wood or metal used to fill blank spaces in a chase and establish page margins.
Form
A complete body of assembled type and blocks locked into a chase ready for printing.