> as lemmas

1616 B. Jonson Epicœne v. iv, in Wks. I. 597 This is worst of all worst worsts! that hell could haue deuis'd! View more context for this quotation

1624 F. Quarles Iob Militant xv. 37 But what is worst of worsts, (Lord) often I Haue cry'd to Thee, a stranger to my cry.

a1644 F. Quarles Shepheards Oracles (1646) x. 125 Bad! Worse! The worst of worsts! The heaviest news That lips ere broach'd, or language can diffuse!

1785 Mem. & Adventures Flea I. vii. 184 There! There! cries John, this is the worst of all worsts;—you shall pay for it among you.

1870 H. Brown Sonnets of Shakespeare Solved 155 How is it he converts her worst of all worsts to the best of all bests?

1885 North-eastern Daily Gaz. (Middlesbrough) 16 Dec. Of all possible evils that can arise..that, to use a strong expression of an old Greek dramatist, would be ‘the worst of worsts’.

1908 J. Davidson Testament 112 And worst of worsts, His chosen race, the Jews..had passed From slavery into slavery.

1973 L. R. Banks One More River xxv. 251 They cowered indoors, expecting the worst of worsts.

2014 P. Khakpour Last Illusion 219 Dozens of broken fried chicken wings,..and, worst of all worsts: two telltale little bones, almost perfectly cleaned.