c1400 Prose Versions New Test.: James (Selwyn) (1904) i. 17 (MED) Eferich ȝeft þat is best & parfyt is from abouen, comynge adoun from þe Fader of lyȝtes, at whom ne is non chaungynge, ne ouer-schadewynge of rewardynge.

1665 J. Spencer Disc. Vulgar Prophecies sig. A2^v, in Disc. Prodigies (ed. 2) That the Minds of Holy Men should conceive (like the Virgin Mary) by the sole overshadowings of the Holy Ghost.

1707 J. Norris Pract. Treat. Humility viii. 352 She was to be impregnated by the overshadowings of the Holy Ghost.

1778 Farmer's Mag. Mar. 88 Side branches, which have been destroyed by the overshadowing of those above.

1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 326 The visible kingdom of God..underwent an almost total eclipse by the overshadowing of earthly power.

1863 ‘Old Elizabeth’ in H. L. Gates Six Women's Slave Narr. (1988) 18 As we sat there in silence, I felt a remarkable overshadowing of the Divine presence.

1976 M. Green Children of Sun vi. 234 America's overtopping of England—England's overshadowing and diminution.

1988 J. B. Cullingworth Town & Country Planning (ed. 10) 148 Local aspects of the design of housing estates where these have an impact on neighbouring development or agricultural land, for example access or overshadowing.

1927 G. V. Anrep tr. I. P. Pavlov Conditioned Reflexes viii. 144 When two stimuli belonging to different analysers were first separately made into conditioned stimuli, and only afterwards applied simultaneously to form a compound stimulus, which was repeatedly reinforced, the overshadowing of the one component by the other did not occur.

1974 A. F. Carr in Jrnl. Compar. & Physiol. Psychol. 86 718 (title) Latent inhibition and overshadowing in conditioned emotional response conditioning with rats.

1991 G. Hall Perceptual & Associative Learning iii. 91 Overshadowing (the observation that the associative strength acquired by a target stimulus A is reduced when another event, B, is also present on reinforced trials)..[is] found in all training procedures and in almost all organisms capable of classical conditioning.

1650 J. Canne Emanuel 12 The Enemie..might, probably, have spoiled them, if not providentially prevented by the over-shadowing clouds.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 165 My overshadowing Spirit and might with thee I send along. View more context for this quotation

1753 J. Warton tr. Virgil Eclogues & Georgics I. i. 184 Fright pecking birds, lop overshadowing bowers, And beg of smiling heav'n refreshful showers.

1796 S. T. Coleridge Compl. Poet. Wks. (1912) 153 O Lord! to thee I bend... Thy overshadowing Spirit may descend, And he be born again, a child of God.

1832 Midnight Musings 123 The overshadowing gloom, that haunts mortality.

1900 Q. Rev. Oct. 348 With the overshadowing Turkish Sultans a dynasty of Shareefs could not well be on amicable terms.

1990 B. Bergonzi Exploding Eng. (BNC) 148 Students do not forget these overshadowing realities.