1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Diguázzo, a padling, a plashing.

1821 J. Galt Ayrshire Legatees vii. 172 Her black silk petticoat was pinned up, that it might not receive injury from the nimble paddling of her short steps in the mire.

1860 Harper's Mag. Oct. 705 I pull off my three pairs of shoes and socks, and go paddling in the sea.

1884 Athenæum 22 Nov. 652/1 This undignified paddling recalls the fairy days of childhood, when paddling itself was a venturesome feat.

1949 Brit. Birds 42 223 The habit of ‘paddling’ on grass seems to have been seldom remarked on... The habit, of course, is well known on the shore, where it seems effective in bringing worms to the surface.

1991 B. Howell Dandelion Days (BNC) 170 She had gone paddling in the beck with him while his nanny and her Uncle Edgar took off giggling into the woods.

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 367 How shall I speake to this wofull place for the padling out of her season of ease?

1840 T. P. Thompson Let. 12 Aug. in Exercises (1842) V. 86 In the small way, they keep a perpetual paddling with the poor man's drink.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Paddling-strings, strings fixed to the frock of a young child to assist it in walking.

1863 W. Grainge Nidderdale 125 Tobias and Thomas Harrison were tied..with paddling strings.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 168 I was..fatigu'd with Rowing, or Paddling, as it is call'd.

1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. I. ii. iv. 99 Having occupied twelve good months in puffing and paddling, and talking and walking—having travelled over all Holland..he advanced sturdily up, and laid the corner stone of the church.

1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xxix Lazy paddlings through the still lagoons.

1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 12) ii. viii. ii. §1. 648 Paddling is the portal to excellence in rowing of all kinds.

1895 Rudder Sept. 215 Eleven paddling canoes—eight Peterboro's and three Rushton—and the Cruiser, complete the fleet.

1953 P. Provancher I live in Woods i. 6 The crews commenced a lively paddling song on quitting the shore.

1991 Canoeist (BNC) Oct. 32 It is generally taught that a low paddle angle and wide blade action imply poor style and inefficient paddling.

1851 J. J. Hooper Widow Rugby's Husband 96 What a devil of a paddlin' the old woman gin him with the battlin' stick.

1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 189 I sent them word to give him a good paddling, and handcuff him, and send him back to the rail~road.

1937 Life 12 Apr. 29/3 (caption) Paddling of the pledges was a feature of the initiation.

1976 National Observer (U.S.) 7 Feb. 11/4 There have been attempts to re-establish corporal punishment..since 1973 when a gradual elimination of spanking and paddling in the schools was completed.

1990 Boston Phoenix 27 Apr. b6/3 An hour with Mistress Eva involves a little bondage, a little paddling, maybe some cross-dressing.

1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 382/2 The paddling should be continued until a ring drawn with the spatula may be recognized.

1874 J. A. Phillips Elem. Metall. 542 The alternate raking and paddling of the charge is continued at regular intervals.

2000 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 13 June 10 All good chocolate undergoes hours of agitation..which begins as rough beating and gradually subsides into gentle paddling, aerating the chocolate and ridding it of residual moisture and volatile acids.

1679 J. Poley Will in W. Rye Gloss. Words E. Anglia (1895) 157 Pay all my small padling debts.

1831 J. K. Paulding Dutchman's Fireside viii. 81 My readers, if they belong to the ‘better sort’, will think this but a paddling affair for the hero of a story.

1714 J. Gay Shepherd's Week v. 155 While padling ducks the standing lake desire.

1839 A. Domett Venice iii. 23 Crowded rushes Save when slow-moving to the rustling bill Of paddling watermole, stand gloomy, fixed and still.

1865 A. C. Swinburne Chastelard v. ii. 180 The arm has reached the dust on the floor, and made A maze of motes with paddling fingers.

1959 Dict. National Biogr. 1941–50 at Steer, Philip Wislon The pebbly beaches, the bathers and paddling children.

1982 W. L. Heat Moon Blue Highways vii. vii. 273 Margins and water were full of stilt-legged birds..and paddling birds.

1792 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 652 He was but a paidlin body.

1840 J. Smith Comic Misc. 328 See yonder yacht, with paddling trot, And rolling Lichfield Sam's gait, Unload.

1895 S. R. Crockett Men of Moss-hags l. 358 A paidling bairn of seven years.

1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 206/1 Paddling walk, walking with very short steps.

1990 Times (Nexis) 28 Jan. With Martina Navratilova in Colorado..it always seemed unlikely that the first paddling steps towards equality would be taken in Melbourne.

1994 Dog World June 50/2 Wide footfall, resultant of paddling movement, causing body to rock from side to side.

1823 Ld. Byron Island ii. x. 30 She, with her paddling oar and dancing prow, Shot through the surf, like rein-deer through the snow.

1827 P. P. King Voy. Adventure & Beagle I. 36 I do think the name of ‘steamer’ much more appropriate and descriptive of the swift paddling motion of these birds, than that of ‘race-horse’.

1834 R. M. Bird Knight of Conquest ii. 20 The motion of the rowers..might have given animation... These paddling hordes resembled the flight of ravens that track the steps of a wounded beast.

1902 J. Conrad Heart of Darkness ii It was a distinct glimpse: the dugout, four paddling savages, and the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the headquarters.

1996 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 22 June 41 In the city, you find the maze of canals populated by houseboats and barges, with movement on the surface from tour boats and paddling canoeists.

1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 442/2 Portunidæ, or Paddling Crabs, a family of Brachyurous Crustaceans, nearly allied to the Cancerians.