notching

CIDE DICTIONARY

notching, n. 

•  The act of making notches; the act of cutting into small hollows.  [1913 Webster]
•  The small hollow, or hollows, cut; a notch or notches.  [1913 Webster]
•  A method of joining timbers, scantling, etc., by notching them, as at the ends, and overlapping or interlocking the notched portions.  [1913 Webster]
•  A method of excavating, as in a bank, by a series of cuttings side by side. See also Gulleting.  [1913 Webster]