> as lemmas

?a1300 Maximian (Digby) l. 242 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 99 (MED) Leuedies wiit so swon, Maidenes so briȝt so bon.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 3806 (MED) Into his bath he [sc. Jason] wente anon And wyssh him clene as eny bon.

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 926 An Egle feþered whit as bon.

c1475 Erthe upon Erthe (Rawl. F.32) (1911) 22 (MED) Til the be made frome the erthe As bare as any bon.

a1550 in R. Dyboski Songs, Carols & Other Misc. Poems (1908) 85 Pray we þat byrde so bright as bon.

1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. cxxvi. f. 92, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Which swelling in continuance of time, becommeth so hard as a bone, and therfore is called of some y^e bone Spauen.

1582 Newe Order for Banqueroupts sig. A6^v In like maner he is to vse al such as fil & enriche themselues with his treasure..whom with their subtill slightes and practises, catching at their goodes, they wring as drye as a bone.

1637 J. Shirley Lady of Pleasure iv. sig. G3^v When other men have beene Wet to the skin through all their cloakes, I have Defied a tempest and walk'd by the Tavernes Drie as a bone.

1757 A. G. Impetuous Lover II. iii. 53 There you may walk all day long, upon a fine smooth pavement, as dry as a bone, let the weather be what it will.

1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. i. 5 It's as dry as a bone.

1891 Irish Monthly 19 537 Pat's Sunday shirt is white as bone.

1946 Country Life 19 Apr. 711/2 If you'd got stuck proper the owd crabs ud ha' had yer! They'll strip a man clean as a bone give 'em time!

1993 Washington Post 13 May (Washington Home section) 20/3 The Navy had left the house bare as a bone when Congress ordered the keys turned over to Rockefeller's predecessor, Gerald R. Ford.

2013 Springvale Dandenong (Austral.) Leader (Nexis) 28 Oct. (Sport section) 32 Bayswater..batted on a wicket that was as hard as a bone, reaching 238 on day one.