> as lemmas

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 309^v Malancoly, þat is blak, by mene of vnkynde colera þat is rusty [L. eruginosa] and grenysch.

a1402 J. Trevisa tr. R. Fitzralph Defensio Curatorum (Harl.) (1925) 75 (MED) Þese priuyleges were procured by mene of þe dedliche synnes.

1427 Rolls of Parl. IV. 326/2 Hit belanged unto you of rygȝt, as wel be ye mene of your birth.

a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 20 Thow purchacest a-corde be-twene the and thi husbonde, by mene of the person hym-self, for to hyde yowre counseill.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 611/2 Se how moche this chambre is lyghtenned by meane of one torche.

1530 R. Whitford Werke for Housholders (new ed.) sig. Cii Many persones..put them selfe subiecte vnto the false god the deuyll..to gette helthe vnlawfully by the maenes of that wyttchraftes forboden by the chirche.

1560 A. L. in tr. J. Calvin Serm. Songe Ezechias Epist. By meane of whose aide..he findeth himselfe holpen.

1611 Bible (King James) Heb. ix. 15 By meanes of death..they which are called, might receiue the promise of eternall inheritance. View more context for this quotation

1653 Ld. Vaux tr. A. Godeau Life St. Paul sig. Aij Having obtained by meanes of your most noble Lady, a view of this choise piece [etc.].

1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. ii. 32 I know not, that we have any one Kind..of Enjoyment, but by the means of our own Actions.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. viii. xiii. 271 He had succeeded so far as to find me out by Means of an Accident. View more context for this quotation

1807 M. R. Mitford in A. G. L'Estrange Life M. R. Mitford (1870) I. 67 I hoped that through his means you would get acquainted with Walter Scott.

1860 R. Fowler Med. Vocab. Mono-ideism, that artificially induced condition in which the acts of the mind, sensation, and motion, may be completely governed by means of suggestive ideas.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 236/1 The connexion is not made directly, but translation is secured by means of an induction coil.

1993 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Mar. 119/1 By means of animal sacrifices, Santeria is sometimes used to rid people of evil spirits that possess them.

1439 Rolls of Parl. V. 32/2 Hynderyng..of the said diverse of your Communes, be mene of the said purvyance.

a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 99 (MED) Israell has vnder law his awne son in his awe By menys of his mercy.

a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Ei That was by the menys of to moche lyberte.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. I. vii. 151 He also amended many things..that had beene long time out of frame, by meane of the Danes.

1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis 9 in Sylua Syluarum By meanes of our solitary Situation..we know well most part of the Habitable World, and are our selues vnknowne.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 320/2 By means of this cover he is very rarely wet on his Body.

1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 13 He could not yet hold a Pen in his Hand by means of his late Sickness.

c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 19 Appollo..be no mene may noon ordure Suffre no wise vnder couerture.

1442 T. Bekington Let. in G. Williams Mem. Reign Henry VI (1872) II. 214 (MED) Your said adversary by no manner of meen may be induced to graunte us his lettres of saufcondeuct.

1470 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 553 I can not yet make my pesse wyth my lord of Norffolk..by no meane.

?c1500 J. Blount tr. N. Upton Essent. Portions De Studio Militari (1931) 22 And yff so be the forsayde battes or scheldes be broken, by noo meenys they schall have eny other geven them agayne.

?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxv. f. 33^v This towne coude by no meanes be well besyged nor taken.

1564 Briefe Exam. ****ij They are not to be reiected, as yf they were by no maner of meanes in the worde of God.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. ix. iv. 64 I am by no means an approver of that mode of proceeding.

1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan 119 ‘Is he, or is he not, a blockhead?’ ‘By no manner of means.’—‘Pho; talk English, will you!’—‘By no means; that'll do, I hope.’—‘Yes; proceed.’

1849 H. Alford Greek Test. I. Prol. 45 Those who carried on the by no means despised or ungainful business of fishermen.

1893 A. C. Swinburne Stud. Prose & Poetry (1894) 111 Basil is by no manner of means an impeccable work of imperishable art.

1930 W. Lindrum Billiards viii. 60 It is by no means easy to predict just where you want red to be for your positional pot.

1980 W. Abish How German is It? iii. iii. 69 Of course the Pflaume was by no means the only decent restaurant in the area.

1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. cxxx^v And if hir husbonde to any thynge agre By no maner mean wyll she therto inclyne.

1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. iii. 161 They will by no meanes vouchsafe to marie their daughters vnto them.

1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 278 But these to be, by no Meanes, set too thicke.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 51. ⁋1 Such an Image as this ought, by no means, to be presented to a Chaste and Regular Audience.

1777 D. Garrick Let. 31 Aug. (1963) III. 1185 By no means let them go on purpose, It might distress S^r Thomas & not forward the business.

1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan 235 ‘Shall I wake the family?’ ‘No, no—by no manner of means.’ ‘By no means—dead, or alive.’

1864 J. H. Newman Apologia 35 What word should I have used twenty years ago instead of ‘Protestant’? ‘Roman’ or ‘Romish’? by no manner of means.

1879 M. Arnold Falkland in Mixed Ess. 232 Shall we blame him for his lucidity of mind, and largeness of temper? By no means.

1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lxxiii. 376 She was by no means to alter any plans she had made.

1990 J. M. Coetzee Age of Iron ii. 74 It is a great pity when we find ourselves entering upon times like those..they are by no means to be welcomed.

1465 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 139 Neuirthelesse it shall do good so he leve his bargeyn by this meane.

?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth lxv. f. 90 By this meanes shall they be moche beholden to you.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 11 That he might preferre Normanes to the rule of the Church,..and by that meane stand in the more suretie of his estate.

1629 tr. Herodian Hist. (1635) 372 By that meanes you shall take away that most odious and hideous tyrant Maximine.

1667 T. Sprat Hist. Royal-Soc. 100 By this means, they will accomplish their main Design.

1750 W. Beawes Lex Mercatoria (1752) 1 When by this means an aggregated number swelled to too great a magnitude..they were compelled to seek for remoter helps by commerce.

1825 S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 37 By this mean, and scarcely without it, you will at length acquire a facility in detecting the quid pro quo.

1889 G. M. Hopkins Exper. Sci. xii. 271 The accuracy with which the solar time may be indicated by this means will depend on the exactness with which the plane of polarization can be determined.

1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 207/2 The electricity furnished by this means serves to light the house.

1991 Jrnl. Southern Afr. Stud. 17 407 Even an estimate of how many children were legitimated by this means is impossible to discover without extensive research.

?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxx. f. 42^v Because Iugurth was on the small hyll before hym and by that meane on the hyer grounde.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xliv. 335 That [as the doctrine of the Fourth Lateran Council states] if a King at the Popes admonition, doe not purge his Kingdome of Hæresies, and being excommunicate for the same, doe not give satisfaction within a year, his Subjects are absolved of the bond of their obedience... And by this means, as often as there is any repugnancy between the Politicall designes of the Pope, and other Christian Princes..there ariseth such a Mist amongst their subjects, [etc.].

1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 14 It rain'd, and by that means she couldn't come.

1474 Rolls of Parl. VI. 117/2 Undelyvered by any meane unto you.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xii. l. 207 A band thai maid..to wyrk his confusion Be ony meyn.

?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxxiii. f. xlvi^v He loost more people by this way thanne by any other meanesse before.

1537 in T. Wright Three Chapters Lett. Suppression Monasteries (1843) 153 In as large and ample maner and forme as ever I had or aught to have of and in the same or any part or parcell therof by ony maner of meanes.

1567 J. Sanford tr. Epictetus Man. 24 Occasion cannot be giuen by any maner of meanes, nor any arte.

1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xlix. 7 None of them can by any meanes redeeme his brother. View more context for this quotation

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Milk Where not the least Mote of any Filth may by any means appear.

1798 Brit. Critic 11 34 The Turcoman nymphs there spoken of, are not, by any means, the damsels of the country we now denominate Turkey.

1812 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. (ed. 2) II. v. iii. 21 I do not by any means pretend to claim the merit.

1874 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera IV. xlv. 193 Not by any manner of means.

1893 R. Williams in H. D. Traill Soc. Eng. i. 32 She was not, however, by any means the only female deity.

1940 Nature 21 Dec. 796/1 Even under modern conditions cheese-making is not by any means a fully controlled industrial process.

1974 Bookseller 22 June 2770/1 Hardly a week goes by without news breaking of another book about or by the Churchill family, and I am not denigrating such things by any manner of means.

1995 K. Ishiguro Unconsoled iv. 46 I don't mean I've slept with them all. Not by any means!

1612 B. Jonson Alchemist v. iv. sig. M^v Yes, tell her, She must by any meanes, addresse some present To th' Cunning man. View more context for this quotation

1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse v. viii. 14 in Wks. II Mer. Yes, Sir, and send for his wife. Eve. And the two Sorcerers, By any meanes!