1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xii. sig. g.ij^v To the acquirynge of science belongeth vnderstandynge.

1584 W. Warner Pan his Syrinx sig. P2 By the laboursome acquiring of women, wee are..not a little profited in valour.

1606 E. Forset Compar. Disc. Bodies Nat. & Politique 4 For the acquiring or framing of any perfection in the Commonweale, we are not..to behold the largenesse, the power, or the well shewing composure thereof.

1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection v. iv. 266 in Justice Vindicated How fraile a mans reason and understanding is, even to the acquiring of things necessary for his preservation.

1702 Eng. Theophrastus 134 There is not any thing so small, but there goes Art and Application toward the acquiring of it.

1794 E. Darwin Zoonomia I. xi. 59 The acquiring of languages, the making of tools, and labouring for money,..are all only the means to produce pleasures.

1847 Southern Q. Rev. Oct. 478 Property, which includes the owning of things and the acquiring of things.

1878 M. L. Holbrook Hygiene Brain 41 There is a limit to our acquiring power.

1895 F. W. Oliver et al. tr. A. Kerner von Marilaun Nat. Hist. Plants II. 469 One branch of the colony is concerned in the acquiring of nutrition, another in reproduction.

1911 Railway & Locomotive Engin. Oct. 433/2 They should have begun studying years before, a little at a time, and they would have fallen into the knowledge acquiring habit.

1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage l. 256 He did not count success by the acquiring of money or the achieving of fame.

2006 D. F. Tolin et al. Buried in Treasure (2007) ix. 124 The first step in the process of reducing acquiring is to know how and why you acquire.

1606 E. Forset Compar. Disc. Bodies Nat. & Politique 20 The mind..treasureth vp all his rich acquirings.

1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. B4^v The King in honour could do no lesse then give backe to his Sonne..the acquireing of his Fathers profession.

1750 Fables & Tales for Ladies 8 A Lion dying left his Heir..The large Acquirings of his Grace.

1791 R. Townley Jrnl. kept Isle of Man II. 320 Such great and wonderful acquirings to our nation..must certainly be received..with the most grateful acknowledgments.

1828 T. Carlyle in Edinb. Rev. Dec. 277 Here too is man's existence, with its infinite longings and small acquirings.

1834 S. E. Brydges Autobiogr. II. xvi. 229 Let the wise and the virtuous come forward to justify their own lofty acquirings.

1886 A. H. Wall Fifty Years of Good Queen's Reign xxiii. 254 They had a little museum in which to store their various findings and acquirings from sea and shore, geological, botanical, and zoological.

1911 P. E. Howard Prayer before Lesson 43 Grant an understanding heart..that we may have..freedom from the disappointments of empty outreaching toward still emptier acquirings.

1976 Waterloo (Iowa) Courier 14 Mar. 11/2 Mrs. Bandfield,..according to her husband, has been known to call his acquirings ‘a bunch of junk’.

1806 B. T. Duhigg Hist. King's Inns i. 98 In the same group we find Sir Richard Boyle..who was not prevented by an acquiring disposition from presenting to the house a silver cup.

1904 Liberty Rev. Sept. 116 An original type of mind that can think and act at first hand is valued below an acquiring mind well stored with the thoughts of others.

1963 J. R. Leggett Services Estate Agent 104 (Gloss.) A notice served by an acquiring authority on the owner or other person with an interest in the property it is sought to acquire.

1993 T. McDermott tr. St. Thomas Aquinas Sel. Philos. Writings (1998) vi. 107 They [sc. intellectual substances] don't have a stand-alone existence, but an acquired existence, circumscribed and limited to what the acquiring nature can take on.

2003 E. Allen Theater Figures i. 41 The only way to restrict a readership is to train it in reading techniques that promote distinction, techniques that turn acquiring minds into inquiring ones.

1880 Sc. Law Reporter 17 778/1 The liabilities of the acquiring company should only commence from and after the date on which the vesting took place.

1906 R. S. Harvey Hand-bk. Corporation Law xxii. 396 In a case where there is ‘merger’ the acquiring corporation still exists.

1966 Financial Times 4 June 8/6 The acquiring firm often finds it difficult to retain more than a small proportion of the acquired firm's share of the business.

1995 Accountancy Nov. 137/1 What in each case is the correct fair value for the acquiring company to recognise as cost in its group accounts?

2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 370 Take-away acquisitions can be risky for the acquiring firm, which often has insufficient time to conduct a thorough analysis of the acquired company.