able-bodiedadj.n.

1600 C. Edmondes Obseruations Fiue Bks. Caesars Comm. i. 23 The Principes were the lustie, and able bodied men.

a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Old Law (1656) v. 71 A lusty woman, able bodied And well blooded cheeks.

a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1690) v. 90 In New-England, there are vast numbers of able bodyed Englishmen, employed chiefly in Husbandry.

1727 D. Defoe Brief Deduction Brit. Woollen Manuf. i. 13 The kindest thing that could be expected was to call all the Poor Workmen away, especially the young able-bodied Fellows, with their Bows and Arrows to encrease the Army.

1755 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 111/1 Several Irish brigades..may be formed out of those able bodied men which are called Fortune-hunters.

1800 P. Colquhoun Treat. Commerce & Police R. Thames xvi. 511 Encouraged able-bodied Landsmen to betake themselves to the Sea-service.

1851 H. Spencer Social Statics xxviii. §6 The Poor-Law Commissioners were to have eradicated able-bodied pauperism.

1863 H. Fawcett Man. Polit. Econ. i. iv. 33 Able-bodied labourers were able to find work.

1915 C. P. S. Gilman Herland iv Back we went..each of us in a separate vehicle with one able-bodied lady on either side.

1956 S. H. Bell Erin's Orange Lily vi. 96 At the time of the Famine in 1846–7, my grandfather, a strong able-bodied man, was working for 8d a day without diet.

2002 Mirror (East York-Riverdale, Ont.) 8 Nov. 4/4 It makes me sad when I see able-bodied adults use the automatic handicap door opener instead of their own muscles.

1717 R. Patten Hist. Late Rebellion 1715 (ed. 2) 79 The Old Infirm Men, the Women and Children, the able-bodied being forced from their Homes.

1829 Times 30 May 4/5 If this applies to the able-bodied, does it not, in a tenfold degree, apply to the aged and infirm?

1866 W. Collins & C. Dickens Frozen Deep ii. 22 So we get back again to the old question, who among the able-bodied is to go, and who is to stay?

1939 E. A. Williams Federal Aid for Relief p. ii The federal government inaugurated a large work program for the able-bodied.

2007 Evening Gaz. (Middlesbrough) (Nexis) 28 Sept. 27 I think that the able-bodied ought to be able to get a job these days, but it might involve training and learning new skills.

1708 Suppl. Abridgm. All Statutes 120 Such Prisoner being an Able-Bodied Seaman or Landman, shall Enter himself in Her Majesties Service in the Navy.

1759 N. Tindal Contin. Rapin's Hist. Eng. (new ed.) IX. 579 A reward of 5l. for every able bodied seaman, and 30s. for every ordinary seaman, or able bodied landsman.

1841 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 4 10 An able-bodied seaman receives, in addition to his rations, 1l. 14s. for a month of 28 days.

1990 J. McPhee Looking for Ship 9 Licensed officers accepted jobs as ordinary seamen, able-bodied seamen, and bosuns because they could not get other work.