1580 T. N. tr. P. Mexía Pleasaunt Dialogue sig. D1 Any other meane affect, or alteration, which make exterior, & notorious chaunges in the cullor and posture of the face.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. iii f.10 In another table was Atalanta; the posture of whose lims was so liuelie expressed, that if the eyes were the only iudges,..one would haue sworne the very picture had runne.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 217 I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra Boy my greatnesse I' th' posture of a Whore. View more context for this quotation

1664 J. Playford Brief Introd. Skill Musick (ed. 4) ii. 89 In the posture of your left hand observe this Rule.

a1711 T. Ken Serm. at Whitehall Passion Sunday in Prose Wks. (1838) 179 He draws her in three distinct postures, like a captive, like a penitent, like a conqueror.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. v. xi. 209 He threw himself into a Posture of Offence, and..attacked Jones. View more context for this quotation

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. i. 18 I stood..with my neck stretched out, in the posture of one that was listening to catch the glorious sounds.

1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 231 Restlessness, which caused a constant variation of posture.

1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xv. 150 The heroic man..threw himself into a paralytic attitude, confidently supposed by the two by-standers to have been intended as a posture of defence.

1879 J. Lubbock Sci. Lect. v. 155 In burials of the Stone Age the corpse was either deposited in a sitting posture or burnt.

1916 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 35 347 Some day..one will discover a hominid of small stature, and almost erect posture.

1966 H. Moore On Sculpture 42 Its curious reclining posture attracted me—not lying on its side, but on its back with its head twisted around.

1997 Men's Health Sept. 102/1 Inactivity combined with a poor posture are the magic recipe for a dodgy back.

2003 Kindred Spirit Winter 21/1 She joins a ‘hot’ Bikram yoga class where students are put through demanding yoga postures in sauna-like temperatures.

1841 Times 10 Mar. 4/3 Are we to teach Ministers, that, to..gain for themselves the credit of yielding, while they really encroach, they have only to assume an aggressive posture, and to propose, in the first instance, developments more rapid and more complete than they mean eventually to insist upon?

1951 Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer 17 Aug. 4/1 Taft..appreciates the risk involved in cutting military aid while Russia still strikes an aggressive posture.

1967 R. D. Laing Polit. of Experience i. 36 One's posture or stance in relation to the act or process can become decisive from the point of view of madness or sanity.

1976 National Observer (U.S.) 1 May 16/3 DEA's mission is..to have foreign governments in a responsive posture.

1994 Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Jan. 12/2 It is when he attempts to push beyond amusement that his posture comes to seem hollow and contrived.

2005 Washington Times (Nexis) 2 Jan. b2 In recent months, it has been quietly ratcheting up an aggressive posture toward Taiwan.

1912 Times 9 July 4/3 When the cock is in display he depresses the wing feathers of the side nearest the hen and elevates the wing of the other side, at the same time expanding the tail and tipping it up... When in this posture he holds his head under the wing, thrusting it through a broken part of the feathers as if anxious to observe the effect that the display of his splendour had upon his partner.

1932 A. Huxley Brave New World xviii. 301 The Savage had retreated towards cover, and now, in the posture of an animal at bay, stood with his back to the wall of the lighthouse.

1953 N. Tinbergen Herring Gull's World ii. 7 Some of these movements and postures are not difficult even for the human observer to appreciate.

1962 Symp. Zool. Soc. No. 8. 71 A rat on the defensive in the upright posture does not look at its opponent.

2005 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Tribune (Nexis) 27 June It's easy to tell when they're angry... They will do a variety of postures to other birds encroaching on their territory... They'll raise their wings and..turn around and show their butt.

1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Ss4^v In describing the fourmes of Vertue and Duty, with their situations and postures, in distributing them into their kinds, parts, Prouinces. View more context for this quotation

1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine i. xi. 33 Three Provinces, whose number and posture we find in the Evangelists.

a1662 P. Heylyn Cyprianus Angl. (1671) i. 63 He found..the Communion Table standing almost in the middest of the Quire, contrary to the posture of it in his Majesties Chappel.

1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 245 An imaginary..Earth: whose Posture to the Sun he supposes to have been much different.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. x. iv. 30 She placed her Chair in such a Posture, as almost to occupy the whole Fire.

1764 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772) I. 44 None was found..to give intelligence of the forces, or posture of the enemy.

1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 54 The position of the arms..and the connecting rods..in one line will prevent the frame..from moving out of the posture it was brought into.

1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 14 Paetie pat his gun i the sam pouster at he saw Johnnie deuan.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvii. [Ithaca] 658 What significances attached to these two chairs? Significance of similitude, of posture.

1931 S. Leask Peculiar People 133 Sheu pat dem i' pooster i' twa raws in fae da door.

1611 W. Strachey Instruction of Marshall 22 June in For Colony of Virginea Britannia. Lawes Diuine, Morall & Martiall (1612) 42 Concerning the training, and cleanely exercising of their Armes, & their postures, the captains shall haue order and directions for the same vnder the Marshals hand.

1625 G. Markham Souldiers Accidence 24 The three Postures or words of Command, which are vsed for the Musquet in the face of the enemie..are these—1. Make readie. 2. Present. 3. Giue fire.

1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses II. 262 He learned..how to handle the pike and musquet, and all postures belonging to them.

1702 J. H. Compl. Gentleman Soldier 24 Grasp your Musquet easily with your right Hand, then recovering Foot and Hand together, return to your foresaid Posture.

1788 F. Grose Mil. Antiq. II. 275 The words of command for this posture are as followeth; Sloape your pike. Unfasten your bow. Draw out your arrow. Nocke your arrow. Shoot wholly together.

?1790 [implied in: Advertisement By Permission of the Right Worshipful the Vice-Chancellor... This present Evening will be performed, In a Large Room at the Wrestlers Inn, Petty Cury, Cambridge, Act I. Hornpipe Dancing. Act II. Posturing and Tumbling. (at posturing n. 1)].

1844 G. Lippard Herbert Tracy i. iii. 35 Herbert..discovered a singular figure, bowing and posturing after a most curious fashion, at the distance of some twenty paces.

1876 H. James Roderick Hudson iii. 96 The poor girl who stood posturing at forty sous an hour.

1927 H. L. Mencken Let. 2 Dec. in H. L. Mencken & S. Haardt Mencken & Sara (1987) 356 I renew my respectful suggestion that you posture while you are on the Coast for one of the artists there resident. They really are capital photographers.

1950 W. Stegner Preacher & Slave i. iv. 42 Horsy and full of beans, John Alberg placed himself in McGibbeney's way and postured like a prize fighter.

1972 R. Allen Skinhead Escapes vii. 40 He postured above her with an obscene handling of his privates.

2001 J. Garwood Mercy xxv. 242 They were posturing like roosters getting ready for a fight.

1865 C. Kingsley Hereward xxx, in Good Words Sept. 637/2 Laughing at the dottrel as they postured and anticked on the mole hills.

1911 Times 2 Dec. 7/1 Such species as peafowl, in which the brilliant cock is often seen posturing and displaying his splendours before the eyes of his mate.

1950 Chambers's Encycl. II. 329/1 Some ‘lek’ birds..gather at an arena where each male bird has a territory or ‘court’. Here they posture, feint at and spar with one another.

2005 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 12 Feb. c5 The males put on an amazing display, bowing and posturing to each other.