> as lemmas

1852 H. D. Thoreau Jrnl. 15 June (1997) V. 96 The dry z-ing of the locust is heard.

1884 R. W. Buchanan New Abelard i The bats were seen flitting with thin z-like cry high up over the waterside.

1893 R. Kipling Many Inventions 103 The oars rip out and go z-zzp all along the line.

1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail ii. 11 The rhythmical z-z-z! z-z-z! [of the saw].

1909 H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay (U.K. ed.) i. ii. 67 He had a way of drawing air in at times through his teeth that gave a whispering zest to his speech. It's a sound I can only represent as a soft Zzzz.

1909 H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay (U.K. ed.) iii. ii. 326 He meditated for a time and Zzzzed softly.

1924 Dial. Notes 5 259 Z-z-z (buzzing, or snoring).

1951 Blue Book Mag. Jan. 25/1 A spark danced between two terminals, a filament snake spat an irate, ‘Zzzt!’

1966 L. Cohen Beautiful Losers i. 16 Hiccup, jerk, zzzzzz, snort.

1967 V. C. Welburn Johnny so Long ii. i. 46 Lola: (makes buzzing noise) Zzzzzzz.

1975 New Yorker 21 Apr. 36/3 David sits in the chair, puts his arms on the armrests, presses his neck against the back of the chair, and moves his feet together. ‘Zzzz,’ he says, and his head falls forward.

1976 Cambridge Independent Press 16 Dec. ii. 3/2 The zzzzz-noise of the electric hare gliding past the opening traps grabs everyone's attention.

1983 Private Eye 4 Nov. 6/2 Once you have hit on a commercial product you just go on producing more of the same, over and..zzzz..over and..zzzz..over and..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

1984 Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Oct. 28/2 We suspect public interest..more nearly resembles a cartoonist's depiction of a man sawing wood—ZZZZZZZZZ.

1984 Oxford Star 29–30 Nov. 19/3 Zzzzing off for forty winks on a regular basis may not sound much like Action Man stuff, but for Alex Gardner it's the most exciting part of the day.