1344 Petition (P.R.O.) SC 8-192.9580 (MED) Jon ne dorste neuereft come in to þat contreie..vor drede of prisoninge ne vor drede of deþ.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 21259 Siþen efter prisuning [a1400 Gött. presuning], His saul he yeld to heuen king.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 376 Boþe þes two prisounyngis..in Moises tyme and Jeremyes.

c1475 Antichrist & Disciples in J. H. Todd Three Treat. J. Wycklyffe (1851) p. cxxxiii (MED) Crist bad preche; & þei bidden leue in payne of prisonyng, saue oonly þei to whom þei ȝyuen leue vnto.

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. xvii. f. 65^v I speake not of prysonninges, treasons, robberies, open violence.

1598 R. Tofte tr. M. M. Boiardo Orlando Inamorato i. Where Galafron my father raignes as King, That I him sent as Prisoner, to him say, And that I cause was of his prisoning.

c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1922) II. 239 Ffor till eschew thiftis..of mettellis..na smythis sall transforme..ony auld Irne..under the pane of..presoning.

a1722 Mrs. W. Veitch Mem. (1846) 5 After a few months' prisoning.

1726 J. Stevens tr. A. de Herrera Gen. Hist. West-Indies IV. Decad. III. x. ii. 348 The Crimes they accus'd themselves of were, killing, when it was not in War, stealing, taking another Man's Wife, prisoning, or bewitching.

1764 T. Salmon New Geogr. & Hist. Gram. (ed. 9) 268 Their endeavouring to take away the King's Life by Sword and Pistol, depriving him of his Authority, and prisoning of him.

1876 E. G. A. Holmes Poems 156 The fond Forget-me-not's limpid blue Encircled them all in a magic ring, And I knew they were safe in its prisoning.

1898 N. Munro John Splendid xxxi We ken all about your prisoning.

1907 Dublin Rev. Jan. 30 Feet..Too wayward for the straight path's prisoning.

1997 Women & Criminal Justice 9 (Nexis) 87 The study considers the effect of ‘prisoning’ upon these women with respect to dealing with their abuse.

1652 E. Benlowes Theophila i. i. 1 Souls..Enfranchis'd from their pris'ning Clay.

1687 J. Rawlet Poet. Misc. 27 Release my pained Soul from this dull clod Of prisoning Earth, and take her to her God.

1752 M. Browne Wks. iii. 67 Let th' Objection stand—These Orbs suppose Scorch'd with hot Rays, or chill'd by prisoning Snows.

1799 S. W. Morton Virtues of Society 8 Thus where the prisoning cage its pass extends, O'er the loved bait the hovering songster bends.

1868 J. T. Nettleship Ess. Browning's Poetry 243 Spring, which has freed the mountain from its prisoning breastplate of snow.

a1892 J. Hyslop in Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Apr. (1892) 6/1 My soul..When that has passed beyond life's prisoning bars.

1941 Cosmic Stories May 7 For Gregory Marshall, first human being ever to leave the prisoning air of Earth, was going back to Earth again.

1987 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 31 Mar. 24 The spangled can-can dancers, clowns, acrobats, and the..scantily clad Rosa Frohlich offer an escape from this prisoning discipline.