> as lemmas

1669 S. Pepys Diary 26 Jan. (1976) IX. 427 My Lord Privy Seale, whom I never before knew to be in so much play as to be of the Cabinet.

1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 42 'Twas his fate, unemploy'd, or in play, Sir, To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor.

1791 Times 18 Aug. 3/1 Since the bloody flag has been taken down, the itinerant clubs are agian in full play.

1815 E. Hitchcock Emancipation of Europe i. iv. 25 Try every means to clog The vast machine the tyrant has in play.

1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. ix. 245 My powers were in play, and in force.

1873 E. Bulwer-Lytton Coming Race v There was a huge engine in the wall which was in full play.

1936 W. F. Russell Liberty vs. Equality i. 19 Bring on the opposition. Let it be heard. Then shall we have all the forces in full play.

1950 Sci. News 15 83 The unknown aerodynamic forces in play at these speeds.

1999 New Statesman 8 Nov. (Lottery Suppl.) 4/1 The chance of a non-profit making body running the Lottery is still very much in play.

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 458 Ðær wæs sum dysig mann plegol ungemetlice, and to þæm mannum cwæð swylce for plegan, þæt he swyðun wære.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 254 Habbeð þach to ouwer bihoue þis lutle leste ende. Of alle cuðe sunnen as of prude..of ploȝe [c1230 Corpus plohe; a1300 Caius ploge]. of ischake lachtre.

c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 3101 (MED) Aski sche wil in plawe, And say þou comest fro me.

c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 1125 Wheither seistow this in ernest or in pley?

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2816 (MED) Al þat loth to þaim can sai þam thoght it was not bot in plai.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 646 Than the damesell that halpe sir Alysaundir oute of the castell, in her play tolde Alys all-togydir how he was presonere in the castell of La Beall Regarde.

c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 1663 (MED) Turnyng as hem lyst and all her varyaunce, Chaunge from ernest in to mery play.

a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Abbot of Tungland in Poems (1998) I. 57 To sum man thair it was no play, The preving of his sciens.

a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 59/1 The king..made her answer part in ernest part in play merely.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 367 I desire not sacrifices and inwards, these are plaies.

1689 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 618 He was as earnest at play, as at his study.

1781 W. Cowper Retirem. 158 The waves o'ertake them in their serious play, And ev'ry hour sweeps multitudes away.

1853 C. Brontë Villette I. x. 179 When an article disappeared whose value rendered restitution necessary, she would profess to think that Désirée had taken it away in play, and beg her to restore it.

1987 J. Uglow George Eliot vi. 110 Hetty takes on the role of these doomed women who take the play of the gods too seriously.

2002 R. Lang Masculine Interests ii. 34 The only hunting they do is done in play, like Pumbaa's comically exaggerated and inept stalking of a bright blue dung beetle.

1795 S. Britcher Compl. List Grand Matches Cricket 35 The Striker is out..if in striking, or at any other time while the Ball is in play, both his feet are over the Popping Crease and his Wicket is put down.

1816 W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 34 Always endeavour to hit the Ball on the same side on which it is bowled, and not draw it across the play.

1849 Laws of Cricket in ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (1850) 56 If the striker touch..the ball while in play.

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. v. 109 As soon as the ball gets past them, it's in touch, and out of play.

1882 C. F. Pardon Australians in Eng. 22 He got half way up the play, and just reached the ball with one hand.

1930 Sun (Baltimore) 26 Dec. 11/7 Of the full sixty minutes of a football game the ball is ‘in play’—that is, is actually being handled, run with, kicked, passed or thrown—for an average of only seven minutes.

1974 R. J. Mills & E. Butler Tackle Badminton 113 The shuttle..is..returned..until a fault is made or the shuttle ceases to be ‘In Play’.

1997 Independent 26 Mar. i. 21/4 A philosopher asks a professional footballer why players from opposing teams always appeal for a throw-in when ‘every bloody time’ the player who actually kicked it out of play knows that he did.

1981 Amer. Banker (Nexis) 20 Nov. 4 The real danger of the minority investment is that it provides a way for a speculator to put a company ‘in play’—that is, put the company on the block so the minority interest can be sold at a nice premium to another bidder.

1985 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 14 Apr. iii. 1/2 Chiefs of the target companies have had to divert their attention from running their corporate ships, instead devoting their time to plotting strategies to keep the company ‘out of play’.

1985 Times 28 May 24/7 The launching of the November 1983 petition and the subsequent going into play of the Getty Oil Company shares.

1995 G. Drabinksy Closer to Sun xx. 401 The special committee is an idea imported from the United States. It's meant to be a panel of disinterested directors of the company in play. Its job is to ensure that shareholders get the highest possible price for their shares.