1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 162 With a pursuit of thrusts fiercely urg'd, he absolutely overpower'd..all sense of pain and uneasiness, whether from my wounds behind..or the oversize of his stretcher.

1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. iv. 64 The over-size of the great theatres.

1849 W. A. Scott in Nat. Preacher Mar. A statue placed in an elevated niche, that must be cut somewhat roughly and of a proportioned oversize to produce the proper effect.

1894 J. W. Riley Armazindy 119 With deep sad eyes of oversize, And face of melancholy guise.

1928 Amer. Naturalist 62 167 Oversize, over-specialization and low mentality are brought in as factors [in the extinction of the dinosaurs].

1970 New Yorker 12 Sept. 90/1 (advt.) This most unusual watch,..shown here in its actual over-size.

1991 Smallholder Oct. (BNC) 17 There is a great temptation to overfeed in the last month to ensure calf growth and nutrition. This should be resisted..since foetal oversize may result.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 374/1 It then goes to a screen with eleven holes to the linear inch, and yields a granular undersize and oversize.

1956 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 249 105 The mixture of broken and unbroken particles forms the product, which is classified, that is, divided into an ‘undersize’ which is the output required, and an ‘oversize’ which is returned.

1986 E. G. Holland Coniston Copper (BNC) 39 The material from the iron mortar boxes was washed out onto a screen and the oversize returned to the stamps.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Oversize, of excessive size; specifically, noting material which is too large to pass through the meshes of a given screen or size.

1960 I. Cross Backward Sex i. 12 That bald head, like an over-size tennis ball, the worse for much wear.

1974 Science 15 Feb. 45/2 Sets of tines much like those on a rake collect the nodules, screen out those that are oversize, and help to separate the nodules from the sediment.

1993 Rolling Stone 14 Oct. 20/4 Corgan's oversize music lends itself well to mass Bic flailing in reverberant, beer-slicked arenas.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey i. 3 [People] bred in a mountanous countrey, who are generally obserued to ouersize those that dwell on low leuels.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey i. 63 Little copped caps..he the greatest that weareth the greatest, the Mufties excepted, which ouer-sizes the Emperours.

1648 Regall Apol. 41 They have..brought in a Garrison of strangers, and laid aside or over-sized the ordinary Guard.

1853 Southern Literary Messenger Nov. 668 All speculations here are conducted on the principles of the gaming table:—press and parellee and oversize your neighbor's pile is the system.

1858 T. Dunn Mormons iii. v. 41 Don't you load it too steep, an' oversize my leetle pile, at the fus go.

1904 ‘M. Twain’ in Harper's Weekly 2 Jan. 19/1 The whole of that is intelligible to me..except..[one] remark... That one oversizes my hand. Gimme five cards.

1998 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 6 June (Sports section) c3 Here was Fedorov slamming Derian Hatcher into the boards, even though the Stars captain oversizes Sergei by four inches and 25 pounds.

1651 W. Davenant Gondibert ii. ii. vii. 119 To that proud Palace..So vast of height, to which such space did fit As if it were o're-cyz'd for Modern Men.

1688 in T. Harwood Hist. Lichfield (1806) 70 His error in oversizing the eight bells he has cast.

1879 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 114 I say $1100 instead of $1042 to cover little possible mistakes in over-sizing the plates.

1930 Flight 25 Apr. (Suppl.) 460e/1 With various wheel forms, the effect of oversizing tyres and the use of smooth or safety treads.

1957 R. Lister Decorative Wrought Ironwork 230 Oversizing. Iron oxidizes while being worked, and it is therefore sometimes necessary to work it slightly larger than its intended final size, or oversize it, in order to counteract any loss by this.

1983 Daily News Record (U.S.) (Nexis) 13 Jan. 1 Italy's designers are, to varying extents, oversizing their fall apparel—sweaters are bigger, often with wide, dropped armholes, trousers are looser.