unawaresadv.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Josh. xx. B They shall not delyuer the deedslayer in to his handes, for so moch as he hath slayne his neghboure vnawarres.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. vi. 35 b If any drinke of it vnawares.

1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 70 Lactantius was slipt unawares into this opinion, and S. Ierome doth..animadvert him for it.

1680 R. L'Estrange tr. Erasmus 20 Select Colloquies xx. 261 Money might lie upon the Ground, and They Tread upon it at Unawares.

1726 G. Berkeley Let. in Wks. (1871) IV. 139 I have unawares run into this long account.

1787 J. Bentham Def. Usury xiii. 185 So great a master having fallen unawares into an error.

1832 H. Martineau Weal & Woe ix. 133 I might have spoken unawares, with authority.

1865 C. Kingsley Heroes ii. ii I will tell you, lest you rush upon your ruin unawares.

1670 J. Dryden & W. Davenant Shakespeare's Tempest iii. 31 I fear'd the pleasing form of this young man Might unawares possess your tender breast.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. i. 186 By which we may give some kind of guess,..how Nature, even in the naming of Things, unawares suggested to Men the Originals and Principles of all their Knowledge.

1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity Pref., in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) Age steals upon Us unawares.

1796 F. Burney Camilla V. x. xiii. 531 In..confidence unlimited..hours might have passed, unnumbered and unawares.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xxxiv. 8 Let a sodane destruccion come vpon him vnawarres.

1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft ii. ii. 20 Witches must be examined as suddenlie, and as vnawares as is possible.

1657 J. Trapp Comm. Job i. 19 No guest cometh unawares to him who keeps a constant table.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 932 He..meets A vast vacuitie: all unawares Fluttring his pennons vain plumb down he drops. View more context for this quotation

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 504. ⁋1 Commend me also to those who..do not give up their Pretensions to Mirth. These can slap you on the Back unawares.

1796 F. Burney Camilla II. iv. v. 353 He had just surprised her in tears, by coming upon her unawares.

1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II ii. lxx. 96 He that unawares had there ygaz'd With gaping wonderment had star'd aghast.

1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1877) II. vii. 63 The King, accompanied by the three great Earls, came unawares upon the Lady.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iv. x. 31 Away betimes, before his forces ioyne, And take the great-growne Traytor vnawares.

1790 R. Burns Tam o' Shanter in Poems & Songs (1968) II. 560 Glowring round wi' prudent cares, Lest bogles catch him unawares.

1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton Caxtons I. i. iii. 15 He seemed incapable of acting for himself; he,..if taken unawares, was pretty sure to be the dupe.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. ii. 98 The famous soubriquet of ‘Wake’; the Watcher, whom no man ever took unawares.

1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts ix. f. xxxiiii But thou in persecution of my disciples..doest persecute me also, vnawares therof.

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 86^v He, as they are vnawares of him, sodainely snatcheth vp with his Pawes certaine of them.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. John 94 b Neyther is it vnawares to me that ye shall not fully vnderstande these thynges whiche I nowe speake.

1584 Copie of Let. conc. Erle of Leycester 42 They sent one daye, (vnavvares to her) for Doctor Baylie, and desired him to persvvade her to take some litle Potion at his handes.

1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 140 I submissively kneeling down, and kissing his [hand] unawares of him.

1643 E. Symmons Loyall Subj. Beliefe 75 It is not wisdome for any man..to trust himself in a suspicious path, lest unawares to himselfe and them, he be on the sudden in mediis malis.

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. l. 343 Unawares to myself, I had moved onward.

1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago I. 144 She found..that she watched, almost unawares to herself, for his passing.

a1873 S. Wilberforce Ess. (1874) II. 15 The very features of men..assume, unawares to themselves, something of unnatural severity.

1564 N. Haward tr. Eutropius Briefe Chron. iii. sig. F.vii Anniball assaultinge Eneus Fulvius at unawares beinge then in Italye slue him.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iv. v. 9 He is taken prisoner, Either betrayd by falshood of his Guard, Or by his Foe surpriz'd at vnawares . View more context for this quotation

1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea xxvii. 58 Wee vsed all our best endevours to take them at vnawares, yet comming within fortie paces we were discovered.

a1667 A. Cowley On Avarice in Wks. (1668) He..Must run the danger..of the rapid stream it self which may At unawares bear him perhaps away.

1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Antiq. Jews ii. x, in tr. Josephus Genuine Wks. 55 Serpents..some of which..fly in the air, and so come upon men at unawares.

1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. II. iii. 225 Darius fearing he should be attacked at unawares,..obliged his soldiers to coutinue the whole night under arms.

1822 W. Scott Halidon Hill i. ii. 46 You might slay him At unawares before he saw your blade drawn.

1868 J. T. Nettleship Ess. Browning's Poetry i. 40 It is like coming to the edge of a precipice at unawares.

1596 T. Danett tr. P. de Commynes Hist. iv. x. 143 The King feared especially..least some word should escape him at vnawares.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 570 A Roman, at vnawares hauing killed a Cat, could not..be detained from their butcherly furie.

1679 C. Ness Distinct Disc. Antichrist 213 It stole into the world..unsensibly and at unawares.

1853 C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe I. xv. 263 All this was told at unawares, drawn forth by different questions and remarks, till Guy inquired how much ‘it would take to give them a start?’

1870 C. Rossetti Poems (1904) 65 When friend shall no more envy friend Nor vex his friend at unawares.