1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 11522 Gret fur he made þer aniȝt of wode & of sprai.

a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 33 Bytuene Mersh ant Aueril when spray biginneþ to springe.

1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 31 If these two kindes thriue, they reforme but a spray, and an vnder-growth.

1652 J. Wadsworth tr. P. de Sandoval Civil Wars Spain 351 His souldiers..fetched a great quantitie of sprey, or bavins,..and set fire to them.

1706 J. Johnson Clergy-man's Vade Mecum (1709) 214 With old Stocks, or Trees of above 20 Years old, but some Spry or small Underwood.

1775 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 7 Apr. (1778) As much prime wood as would, with a little spray, have made three bakers bavins.

1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 631 Pea sticks, which are branches of trees or shrubs well furnished with spray.

1852 C. Morfit Art of Tanning, Currying, & Leather-dressing (1853) 96 Majestic trees..with spreading tortuous branches and spray.

1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders I. vii. 134 All he had required had been a few bundles of spray for his man Robert.

c1386 G. Chaucer Sir Thopas 59 The wodedowue vp on the spray She sang ful loude & clere.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvi. 64 This wes in the moneth of may, Quhen byrdis syngis on the spray.

1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 185 A saill als quhite as blossum vpon spray.

1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell 1412 How her ble was bryght as blossom on the spray.

1893 F. Thompson Poems 66 Oh, there were flowers in Storrington On the turf and on the spray.

1914 T. Hardy Satires of Circumstance 20 When I set out for Lyonnesse, A hundred miles away, The rime was on the spray.

1921 W. de la Mare Veil & Other Poems 19 Thrush and robin perched mute on spray.

1520 in W. L. Nash Churchwardens' Acct. Bk. St. Giles, Reading (1851) 11 For Sprayes & thatchyng of the ij^o tents at the gravell pytt, ij^s xj^d.

1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 64 In some places Wood is so scarce, that they cannot get spraies to fasten on Thatch.

1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 162 Great Plantations of Hazel, that..are also of vast Service to the Thatcher, by its Stretchers, Sprays, and Withs.

1854– in midland dialect use.

1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4848 Manufactured sprays, birds, leaves, seeds, and other artificial florists' materials.

1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarèl I. 64 He would never meet me without some spray of roses, or some boughs of lemon.

1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay v. 74 Her first ball-dress, a delicious combination of white silk and tulle and lace, with sprays of wild roses.

1803 C. Wilmot Jrnl. 6 Mar. in Irish Peer on Continent (1920) 142 Necklaces, sprays of brilliants, towering on the head like feathers, diamond nets, combs.

1863 E. C. Gaskell Dark Night's Work v. 64 Your pearls..were..handsome..but we must have them re-set; the sprays are old-fashioned.

1939 ‘P. Wentworth’ Lonesome Road viii. 50 I should love to give her a diamond spray from Woolworth's.

1939 ‘P. Wentworth’ Lonesome Road xii. 73 The oak spray..two diamond oak-leaves and three acorns.

1951 Festival of Brit.: Catal. Exhibits: South Bank Exhib. (H.M.S.O.) 39/1 Ruby and diamond spray brooch.

1966 Harper's Bazaar Sept. 76 A pair of Victorian diamond sprays in the hair..£900.

1979 Country Life 11 Oct. Suppl. p.v. Modern diamond and emerald spray brooch.

1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 124 A large fire..to burn the bark and dry up the Spry and juices that fly from them in cutting.

1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XVI ix. 65 Like a soda bottle when its spray Has sparkled.

1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville II. 131 Torrents came tumbling from crag to crag, dashing into foam and spray.

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxviii. 140 He almost fancied that that bright face and golden hair were looking upon him, out of the spray of the fountain.

1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile ix. 251 Still the boats chase each other along the dark river, scattering spray from their bows.

1796 Lamb in Final Mem. (1848) I. i. 201 These mighty spouters out of panegyric waters have..scattered their spray even upon me.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. iv. iv. 188 One vast suspended-billow of Life,—with spray scattered even to the chimney-tops.

1889 Spectator 9 Nov. 630/1 It may even be that..the vanquishers..are sending out a thick spray of roving robbers westward.

1870 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 July 21/1 The value of sprays in the treatment of affections of the throat and windpipe..is much hindered by the inconvenience attending the use of the apparatus... Clarke's [apparatus] produces a fine spray.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2288/2 Spray,..the vapor from an atomizer.

1880 W. MacCormac Antiseptic Surg. 155 It may prove useful for dressing, and where a steam spray is not available.

1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed viii. 146 I haven't any spray, and I never leave charcoal unfixed overnight.

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 305 The free application of antiseptic sprays for purifying the atmosphere of sick chambers.

1962 R. L. Carson Silent Spring (1963) iii. 23 There were cockroaches in the house..and..a spray containing endrin was used.

1974 A. J. Huxley Plant & Planet xxviii. 337 Temperate fruit growers may apply fifteen different sprays in a season.

1881 B. W. Richardson in Good Words 22 52 Any servant can at any time use the spray.

1895 Catal. Surg. Instruments (Arnold & Sons) 161 Cocaine Spray, complete.

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 305 The method is the same, whether air be used, as in the well-known hand-ball spray apparatus, or steam.

1959 Times 17 Feb. 2/3 The manufacture of Industrial Equipment such as Ovens, Spraybooths.

1975 R. Butler Where all Girls are Sweeter vi. 63 A man was spraying a car in a spray booth.

1972 Times 14 Dec. 9/5 A higgledy-piggledy mixture of colours..all laid on with spray cans and felt-tipped marker pens.

1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Sept. 972/4 Not only are felt-pens and spray-cans rare in Africa, but so is literacy.

1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 9 600 She was ordered spray inhalation of lactic acid..every two hours.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2288/2 Spray-instrument,..one for the administration of an anæsthetic or refrigerant in a finely divided liquid form.

1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xvii. 69 The last rays of the sun did a spray job on one side of da Cunha's bony head.

1971 Engineering Apr. 95/2 (advt.) Your problem will be solved by an enthusiastic team well versed in the study of Spray Characteristics and Patterns for any particular Sprayjob.

1919 E. S. Fraser & R. B. Jones Motor Vehicles viii. 65 The suction created by the rush of air past the spray nozzle causes the gasoline to be delivered to the mixing chamber in a fine spray.

1966 Gurney & Cotter Cooling Towers iii. 62 (caption) Typical sections of cooling tower timber distribution system showing header, lateral and porcelain spray nozzle.

1867–72 N. P. Burgh Mod. Marine Engin. 272/2 The spray pipes, in connection with the injection valves, are secured beyond them, within the condenser.

1881 B. W. Richardson in Good Words 22 52 For practical purposes..I think the simple spray process is the best.

1913 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 61/2 The stamps are moistened within the machine by a tiny spray pump.

1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. May 470/1 A spray pump [for a garden]..may be of bucket or knapsack type according to personal preference.

1920 Brass World Dec. 343 (caption) A new spray gun invention.

1944 R. Chandler Five Murderers 31 A woman..was popping at aphis [sic] with a spray-gun.

1956 ‘B. Buckingham’ Three Bad Nights xiv. 122 Battered old spray-guns with which they were sprinkling the plants.

1974 ‘S. Woods’ Done to Death 29 Mr Gillespie was pottering about in his garden with a green spray-gun in his hand.

1931 Circular U.S. Dept. Agric. No. 195. 1 Recently spray-irrigation equipment, designed for the irrigation of general farm crops, has been developed in Germany.

1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 80 520/1 Centrifugal pumps are most commonly used for spray irrigation.

1974 Withers & Vipond Irrigation ii. 55 Spray irrigation..is suitable for use in temperatures down to −9°C (16°F).

1961 H. J. Hine Dict. Agric. Engin. 130 It is possible to divide up the methods of overhead application to field soil into spray lines, sprinklers and rainers.

1974 Withers & Vipond Irrigation ii. 54 A more elaborate spray line consists of a water pipe, about 30 mm diameter, perforated in one quadrant along its length, and mounted on light tressles.

1924 L. C. Lichty Measurement Natural Gas iii. iv. 349 Two general methods are used to cool the water, namely, the spray pond or cooling tower method.

1951 J. Jackson Cooling Towers ii. 7 Spray ponds are only suitable where a close approach to the wet-bulb temperature is not required; their main use lies in cooling water prior to discharge into a river.

1880 I. L. Bird Unbeaten Tracks Japan I. 303 The odour of carbolic acid pervaded the whole hospital, and there were spray producers enough to satisfy Mr. Lister!

1967 A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xi. 141 Very recently a new steel~making process, spray-refining, has been developed by the British Iron and Steel Research Association. A stream of molten iron from a blast furnace falls through a ring of jets, which breaks it up into droplets,..and a second ring of jets which inject powdered lime and other fluxes.

1975 Steel USSR V. 493 The optimum working pressure in the chamber for carrying out spray refining of pig iron in a vacuum is 150 mmHg.

1966 Economist 15 Oct. 293/3 As operated at present, the spray steelmaker is far from continuous: it only runs during part of a blast furnace tap and its capacity is limited by the size of the ladle that is pushed underneath.

1965 Economist 25 Dec. 1437/2 (heading) Spray steelmaking.

1966 Observer 16 Oct. 9/1 The revolutionary ‘spray’ steel-making process, developed by the British Iron and Steel Research Association in Sheffield,..has all the makings of a major technological advance.

1976 Metals Abstr. IX. 1750/2 (heading) An investigation into oxidation processes occurring during spray steelmaking using naturally alloyed pig iron.

1937 T. K. Sherwood Absorption & Extraction vi. 168 Spray towers are best suited to the absorption of very soluble gases.

1951 J. Jackson Cooling Towers ii. 7 Like the cooling pond and the spray pond, the spray tower is probably suitable only for easy cooling duties.

1979 A. L. Lydersen Fluid Flow & Heat Transfer vi. 155 Spray towers are the simplest type of gas scrubbers.

1829 T. Carlyle tr. ‘Novalis’ in Foreign Rev. Dec. 134 A strong beam of light..sprayed itself into innumerable sparks.

1852 M. Arnold Ye Storm-winds, etc. 49 Where the nich'd snow-bed sprays down Its powdery fall.

1881 Good Words 22 51 The solution may be..sprayed freely into the safe.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 685 A 5 per cent. solution of menthol should be sprayed up the nostril.

1923 H. G. Wells Men like Gods iii. iv. 284 From some slope above a lark had gone heavenward, spraying sweet notes.

1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 23 The trees came crashing down lengthwise, And sprayed their flustered birds into the skies.

1976 E. Dunphy Only a Game? iv. 125 They were giving us space to come further forward, and giving us room to turn and spray it about.

1861 J. C. H. Fane & Ld. Lytton Tannhäuser 57 While from beneath The creeping billow of calamity Sprays all his hair with cold.

1884 E. P. Roe Nature's Serial Story ix The foliage was..sprayed by a garden syringe.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 678 An excellent plan of treatment is..to spray the nose with one of the liquid paraffins.

1922 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (Oxford text) lxxxiii. 182 Wood was posted there..to get the Indians..ready to spray the neighbourhood of the guard tent if affairs became general.

1977 C. Forbes Avalanche Express xv. 152 The man behind the gun..sprayed the Wagon-Lit... A hail of bullets thudded into their compartment.

1891 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) The instrument will either spout or spray.

1906 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 664/1 Below, the Porto, a fine trouting stream,..foams and sprays and chafes.

1949 M. C. Gay How to live with Cat xi. 175 A tomcat sprays whiffs of cat smell about in the hope of luring a maiden feline to his moon-bespattered lair.]

1954 L. F. Whitney Compl. Bk. Cat Care xvi. 199 The males specifically lose their potent and..obnoxious odour, stop spraying and use their pans or boxes.

1967 A. Lewin Unaltered Cat ii. iv. 117 If he's frustrated, he'll begin to spray. It's an unpleasant odour, except, of course to a female cat.