1700 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding (new ed.) ii. xxxiii. 223 Had this happen'd to him, by an over dose of Honey, when a Child, all the same Effects would have followed.

1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random II. xxxvii. 2 Whether he was at this time too sparing, or took an overdose of his cordial, certain it is, he departed in the night, without any ceremony.

1763 Philos. Trans. 1762 (Royal Soc.) 52 454 One..who had taken an over-dose of opium, and died of it.

1792 T. Holcroft Anna St. Ives III. liv. 172 I do not think there is, upon the face of the whole earth, so nauseous a thing as an over dose of wisdom.

1833 Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 1815–30 2 42 The author has since been induced to try whether the effects of a larger quantity [of medicine] injected into the veins would also correspond with those produced by an overdose taken into the stomach.

1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall II. iii. 46 I saw by his face that he was suffering from the effects of an overdose of his insidious comforter.

1905 Science 21 Apr. 622/1 The ingestion of copper..has no effect other than producing results similar to an overdose of table salt.

1968 J. D. Carr Papa Là-bas iii. xv. 183 You have had a momentary overdose of truth; you are surfeited.

1999 Times 12 May 1/1 A family doctor was cleared yesterday of murdering a dying cancer patient with a massive overdose of painkillers.

1700 W. Burnaby Reform'd Wife v. i. 43 Sir Sol. Why thy Wife looks better already—is it not possible to make her speak like one of us? Cle. All things by Degrees, Sir Solomon, I must not over-dose her.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Glass Then set it to boil..which done, see whether it have Manganese enough; and if it be yet greenish, add more Manganese, at Discretion..taking care not to overdose it.

1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. I. 228 There still remains enough of the inflammable principle, even in the iron itself, to form a Sulphur with the Acid as it is extricated, or at least a mixt that would be as apt to take fire as common Sulphur, if it were not over-dosed with the Acid.

1834 S. Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 151 If we over-dose the patient at first, we add to the disease.

1874 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch v. xlv. 328 Hard-working medical men may come to be almost as mischievous as quacks... To get their own bread they must overdose the king's lieges.

1893 Daily News 13 Feb. 2/6 Neither Paris nor London has been overdosed with new issues of foreign stocks for years past.

1927 Jrnl. Clin. Investig. 4 437 A diabetic patient who has been overdosed with insulin.

1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 15 May (Mag. section) 29 Iceberg lettuce salad cannot be saved by overdosing it with garlic and oregano.

1992 Pract. Fishkeeping (BNC) Nov. 48 The old rule of not overdosing your fish still applies, whether you are using off-the-shelf remedies or natural medicine.

1727 W. Somervile Occas. Poems 128 A merry Bottle to engender Wit, Not over-dosed, but Quantum sufficit.

1758 W. Battie Treat. Madness xi. 81 Such sharp bodies [sc. nitre and other saline febrifuges] when over-dosed or when applied to subjects too susceptible of irritation may sometimes aggravate every symptom they are intended to relieve.

1778 Philos. Trans. 1777 (Royal Soc.) 67 511 Fatal accidents have happened from the imprudent administration of this bark, chiefly from over-dosing the medicine.

1973 R. Ludlum Matlock Paper xxx. 261 The doctor told me that he'd prescribe heavier ‘medication’ but warned me not to overdose.

1977 B. Wood & J. Geasland Twins 21 You don't take a full bottle of an anticonvulsant if you mean to overdose on Seconal.

1979 Newsweek (Nexis) 8 Oct. 60 He has often denounced incompetent lawyers and a society overdosing on laws.

1985 Washington Post (Nexis) 26 Dec. (Maryland Weekly section) 1 Don't overdose on chocolates.

2001 Liverpool Echo (Nexis) 1 Nov. 22 [He] was alone when he overdosed on heroin.