> as lemmas

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xi. 99 Benedictus hine het arisan, ac he ne dorste ætforan ðam halgan were on his fotum gestandan.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. clxxxxii/1 Anone the chyld aroos rizt vpon his feet.

a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) ii. f. ccxvii^v/1 Anone he rose vpon his fete ayen & neuerthelesse he wolde not ete but sette hymselfe to praye god.

a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) l. 44 (MED) Vppe vppon his fete he was a non.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Moses xxix A Then Iacob gat him vp vpon his fete; and wente in to the east countre, & loked aboute him.

1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 991 Then the Romanes sodainely rose vpon their feete, and with the darts that they threwe from them, they slue the formost, and put the rest to flight.

1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 22 He could not possibly cause him [sc. a horse] to get up on his feet.

1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. (at cited word) To get On ones Feet, Se lever.

1717 N. Griffith The Leek: a Poem 23 He backward reel'd. Yet soon again recov'ring to his Feet, Hasted th' advancing Enemy to meet.

1777 J. Richardson Dict. Persian, Arabic & Eng. I. 242 An indolent, languid woman, rising slowly upon her feet.

1845 M. Pattison in Christian Remembrancer Jan. 84 The bishops..hastened to raise the king to his feet.

1877 M. T. Walworth Warwick xxxiii. 307 Montrose Earle sprang to his feet and drew a revolver.

a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xi. 217 It can bite with its forceps, and chew with its jaws.., and yet it cannot get on to its feet.

1945 Times 9 May 4/2 Mr. Churchill entered, and members leapt to their feet to cheer him.

1988 J. Trollope Choir v. 78 Alexander sat through the meeting, rose to his feet only once to make an eloquent but not wholly relevant speech.

2013 W. Sutcliffe Wall 273 In an instant, she's up on her feet, shouting something.

c1500 Melusine (1895) 156 Make here byfore me the feste as that I were now on my feet.

1658 W. Sheppard Sincerity & Hypocricy 166 It will make him that is sincere more carefull and active for God whiles he is on his feet, and when he falls it will help to recover him.

1729 ‘C. Fell’ Lives of Saints II. 64 Our Saint had a violent Fit of the Gout, which threw him into a high Fever... As soon as he was on his Feet again, he was eager to be gone.

1790 A. Wilson Poems 87 I'm now stively on my feet, An' hale an' weel as ever.

1855 Juvenile Missionary Mag. July 153 By the blessing of God, in a fortnight he was upon his feet again.

1881 E. Davies Story Earnest Life v. 163 My two new made friends were delighted to see me on my feet again.

1991 R. R. McCammon Boy's Life ii. iv. 134 Even when Johnny was back on his feet, he was not to do any running or roughhousing and he couldn't even ride his bike.

2014 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 12 Oct. 30 (heading) Ayatollah back on his feet after surgery.

1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Job c. 471/1 When all is done, we cannot fall but vpon our feete [Fr. nous ne pouvons tomber que sur nos piez] as they say. For all the troubles of this worlde shall not let God from leading vs too the saluation which he hath promised vs.

1644 R. Vines Posture Davids Spirit 23 Such a man shall be alwayes in possession of himselfe,..and how ever he be tossed too and fro, up and downe, yet shall alwayes light upon his feet.

1718 L. Echard Hist. Eng. (new ed.) II. ii. 113 King James us'd to compare him [sc. Sir Edward Coke] to a Cat, that whatever hapned, wou'd always light upon her Feet.

1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 79 Cast you o'er the House riggen, and you'll fall on your Feet. Spoken when one has a better Fortune than either they expected, or deserved.

1821 J. Scott Sketches French Provinces, Switzerland, & Italy ii. 20 A Frenchman..may fall, but he always falls on his feet.

1852 Phonetic Jrnl. 17 Jan. 17/1 Like the cats, they [sc. Anglo-Saxons] always drop on their feet.

1896 A. Beardsley Let. c26 June (1970) 138 I have fallen on my feet here. Two palatial rooms and the additional comfort of being able to feed in a pretty little restaurantish dining-room.

1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn i. 44 ‘How are you going to travel on ten dollars?’ ‘Oh, work m' way. Cinch. Always land on my feet.’

1986 G. Butler Coffin on Water i. 19 ‘Hope she's all right...’ ‘Oh, she'll fall on her feet,’ said Coffin; he knew a survivor when he saw one.

2004 Opera News June 35/2 Stamford seems a city with nine lives, prone to cycles of urban blight yet somehow always landing on its feet.

1594 R. Cecil Let. May in F. Bacon Wks. (1819) VI. 13 I protest I suffer with you in mind, that you are thus gravelled; but time will founder all your competitors, and set you on your feet.

1628 J. Fletcher Hist. Perfect-Cursed-Blessed Man To Rdr. sig. D2 Much more did Hee now consult with Himselfe, how, and by what meanes Hee might set Man on his feet againe, and so restore Him and his whole Race into their former state and happy being.

1733 H. Fielding Miser (Edinb. ed.) i. vi. 30 I beg you would give me this little Assistance; Sir;..it will set me on my Feet, and I shall be eternally obliged to you.

1801 ‘Gabrielli’ Mysterious Husband iv. 146 A sixth [hundred pounds] would set her once more upon her feet.

1873 J. Assu Brazilian Colonization 124 Did not Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald, set her [sc. Brazil] on her feet, establish her independence, deliver her from tutorship, drive off her enemies?

1916 H. Mearns Richard Richard xx. 350 We're going to pay off the debts, liquidate the mortgage, and set the Wells family on its feet—bail 'em out, in short.

1993 T. Hawkins Pepper x. 212 Don't you think you might fare better if I gave you a little money to get yourself back on your feet.

2010 Private Eye 28 May 30/2 Vince Cable tries to get industry back on its feet.

1621 S. Ward Life of Faith x. 74 Thou standest vpon thine owne feete, and therefore fallest so foulely, thou wilt like a childe goe alone..and therefore gettest so many knocks.

1641 G. Hakewill Diss. with Dr. Heylyn vii. 42 Neither in truth do I see how the crutch of Transubstantiation being taken away, a Sacrifice properly so called, can well stand upon its own feete.

1657 T. Burton Diary (1828) II. 67 I move..that you would leave Serjeant Dendy's right to stand upon its own foot.

1776 G. Campbell Philos. of Rhetoric I. ii. ii. 401 The phrase thus frequently mistaken, hath come at length to establish itself, and to stand on its own foot.

1794 N. Perkins Disc. Ordination Rev. C. Chapin 37 Religion is a voluntary thing—still you must ‘walk on your own feet:’ you must work out your own salvation.

1858 W. M. Thackeray in Harper's Mag. Dec. 122/1 The great mass of the American people are a sober-minded race, standing firmly on their own good foot.

1871 Radical Nov. 318 He has from his youth stood on his own feet, and he stands now on his own feet.

1971 Daily Tel. 20 Jan. 11 Families that have been ‘propped up’ by social workers for 10 years are now being taught to stand on their own feet.

1990 Vanity Fair Aug. 176/3 The north node of the moon has been transiting Aquarius, telling you that you have to stand bravely on your own two feet.

2011 Independent 17 Oct. 14/3 Ministers remain wedded to the idea that railways should stand on their own feet.