1602 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. iv. sig. F Thou shalt impart the wine, Old boy . View more context for this quotation

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. ii. 7 Did she see thee the while, old boy, tell me that. View more context for this quotation

1712 J. Arbuthnot App. to John Bull Still in Senses ii. 13 Fear not, old Boy; we'll do't, I'll warrant thee.

1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxvii. 3380 Never fear, old Boy, said Sir Charles, we'll bear our Parts in Conversation.

1800 W. Whiter Etymologicon Magnum 378 In the language of our streets we perpetually hear of a ‘Tight Lad—a pretty Chap—an old Boy—a queer Spark—a pert “Sprig”,’ &c. In all these words expressing youth—liveliness, &c.

1872 Punch 24 Aug. 81/2 A fellow who can take a joke good-naturedly like you can, old boy.

1991 W. Fox Willoughby's Phoney War (BNC) 72 Better hurry back, old boy. You're missing the bluest number in the show.

a1637 B. Jonson Tale of Tub i. iv. 74 in Wks. (1640) III Here comes another old Boy too, vor his colours Will stroake downe my wives udder of purses, empty Of all her milke money, this Winter Quarter.

1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas II. iv. vii. 72 One of those old boys who have been great rakes in their youth.

1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxix. 429 I'm going to write to my father, and I must have a stimulant, or I shan't be able to pitch it strong enough into the old boy.

1893 G. B. Shaw Widowers' Houses ii. iv. 43 He wont have any news to break, poor old boy: she's read all the letters already.

1921 D. H. Lawrence Sea & Sardinia v. 161 The old boy brings his stocking-foot over the left ear.

1959 F. Astaire Steps in Time (1960) i. 3 But it's nice to hear, ‘How does the old boy do it..why isn't he falling apart?’ And all that jazz.

1993 Independent on Sunday 4 Apr. 27/3 You had a few old boys, people who were past their sell-by dates.

2008 R. Raisin God's Own Country xviii. 140 I was so busy thinking about the old boy, I didn't heed the waiter shouting at us from the far end the train.

1692 in B. Rosenthal Rec. Salem Witch-hunt (2009) vii. 194 Lidea Nichals aged about. 17. years testifieth & saith that about a yeare & halfe agoe I asked [abigaill hobs] how she darst lie out anights in y^e woods alone she told me she was not a fraid of any thing for she told me she had sold her selfe boddy & soull to y^e old boy.

1782 P. M. Freneau Poems (1976) 216 'Till they all get as black as they paint the old Boy.

1802 Balance (Hudson, N.Y.) 14 Oct. 317 The devil has been nick-named the old boy.

1837–40 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker (1862) 140 As we invigorate the form of government (as we must do, or go to the old boy).

1854 M. J. Holmes Tempest & Sunshine xv. 203 Where the old boy is your mistress?

1953 A. Miller Crucible (1956) i. 32 The Church's enemies relied no less upon the Old Boy to keep the human mind enthralled.

1958 H. Babcock I don't want to shoot Elephant 23 'Tis a great pity Martin Luther missed the Old Boy when he threw that ink bottle at him.

1986 L. A. Pederson et al. Ling. Atlas Gulf States: Concordance [Florida] Devil,..Old boy.

1743 W. Ellis Suppl. to London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) 289 Then add to the same new Drinks, with their Sediments, and call it Old-boy, Stout, or Nog.

1857 T. Hughes (title) Tom Brown's school days. By an Old Boy.

1868 Haileyburian 1 4/2 On Nov. 30th, was played our first Old Boys football match.

1894 A. Beardsley Let. 2–3 Oct. (1971) 76 I had hoped to be at the Old Boys' dinner next month but I fear it is out of the question.

1910 H. G. Wells New Machiavelli (1911) i. iii. 92 (heading) The school chapel; and how it seems to an old boy.

1920 M. Beerbohm And Even Now 297 The accounts given to me by ‘old boys’ of other schools.

1936 ‘G. Orwell’ Keep Aspidistra Flying iii. 57 He..developed unorthodox opinions about the C. of E., patriotism and the Old Boys' tie.

1959 ‘J. Byrom’ Take only as Directed viii. 88 ‘Well, blow me down!’ I chose a phrase that seemed suitably Old Boy.

1959 Spectator 20 Mar. 399/1 The old-boy network in the Ruhr has gradually tightened again and Krupp's position is central to it.

1959 Guardian 23 Dec. 6/6 Appointment boards have always..a certain resemblance to the ‘old boy net’ which they replaced.

1964 New Scientist 24 Sept. 793/1 Dr. Bertrand Goldschmidt..managed to obtain, on an ‘old boy basis’, about 3 microgrammes of plutonium.

1970 Wall St. Jrnl. 30 Mar. 1/1 The Old Boy Net is being replaced by professional managers who take perks for granted.

1971 J. R. L. Anderson Reckoning in Ice vii. 143 To hanker after reunions, Old Boys' gatherings and the like suggests that nothing in one's later life has ever quite matched school.

1972 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 40/4 There is a clubbish sort of old boys' net in The Room [at Lloyd's].

1973 A. Price October Men xii. 178 The Russians don't go much on the old boys' network.

1991 T. Pakenham Scramble for Afr. xix. 337 He was unmistakably middle-class, an old boy of Stockwell Grammar school.

2001 T. Desmoyers-Davis Citizenship Mod. Brit. xvii. 307 The ‘old boy network’ refers to the combination of family connections, the ‘right’ school and the ‘exclusive’ university that combine to give some citizens ‘cultural capital’.

1844 C. G. F. Gore in Bentley's Mag. Jan. 56 The curious weazened old-boyish air of this..race of men.

1931 ‘G. Trevor’ Murder at School i. 16 Within five minutes Revell had ceased to be old-boyish.

2000 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 22 Oct. 3 Even when he is thrashing ‘the old boyish’ Sir Richard Wilson in the book, he takes care to add that socially he and his wife are charming.

1830 Edinb. Lit. Jrnl. 25 Dec. 383/2 There were other characteristics of ‘old boyishness’ about Lord Charles, which noted him as a delightful gentleman ‘of a certain age’.

1850 Punch 3 Aug. 52/1 There is a jolly-buckism or an old-boyishness about the concern.

1931 ‘G. Trevor’ Murder at School i. 16 ‘It is always a pleasure for Oakington to receive her old boys.’.. A little old-boyishness in response seemed clearly indicated.

1961 Guardian 19 Jan. 20/7 The atmosphere of old-boyishness and good-chappery which is a deadly threat to our society.

1983 T. Heald Networks iii. 57 Such fervent protestations of old boyishness are out of kilter with the age.

2010 D. Chinni & J. Gimpel Our Patchwork Nation 79 Old-boyishness and insularity survive even in the face of a constant influx of youthful, diverse outsiders.

1867 R. Broughton Cometh up as Flower I. xv. 234 Old boy'ing each other.

1959 Times 6 Oct. 14/4 The Anglesey contest has been commendably clean, with rival candidates and agents blithely ‘old boying’ each other.

2003 G. Blythe Poisoned Springtimes 392 Aha, and soon he was Old-Boying me in Public-School tones: ‘This bar gives me such a sense of continuity, you know,’ he explained.