1533 T. More Answere Poysened Bk. iv. xx. f. cclvii Tyndale..calleth the sacrament of confyrmacyon the butterynge of the boyes forhed.

1708 E. Ward Mod. World Disrob'd 5 The excellent ordering of a primitive Bag-Pudding, or the buttering of Turnips, she's such an excellent Artist at, that never a Mutton-Lane Cook..is able to vie with her.

1785 Morning Post 4 Jan. Think upon the virtues of œconomy, in the basting of an hare, or in the buttering of a pig.

1827 Domest. Econ. & Cookery for Rich & Poor 553 If to be preserved by buttering, let them [sc. eggs] be dipped in boiling water, and wiped perfectly dry.

1872 M. Parloa Appledore Cook Bk. i. 96 When boiled, prepare the same as for steaming, omitting the buttering of the dish.

1953 Irish Times 21 July 6/2 The buttering of a vast number of slices of brown and currant bread.

2000 N.Y. Times 10 Mar. (Weekend section) e1/3 Such activities as..the buttering of a mountain of toast.

1806 Visct. Palmerston Let. 28 Jan. in H. L. Bulwer Life Visct. Palmerston (1871) I. i. 17 I took my degree yesterday, and got a very short buttering.

1820 T. Creevey Jrnl. 17 Aug. in H. Maxwell Creevey Papers (1904) I. xiii. 309 I have just given this lad, Lord John, such a fire for his buttering of Wilberforce.

1890 D. MacDonald Will o' Wisp Flashes iv. 181 ‘Oh, Miss Thistle, you are becoming sarcastic.’ ‘I will be still more so if you try any further buttering of me.’

1905 Sat. Rev. 29 Apr. 546/2 We were rather inclined to think of the Canadians..as a people who might prefer to be told a few truths, even if they came home, to mere ‘buttering’.

1987 R. Hall Kisses of Enemy (1990) ii. xxxvii. 190 If once you begin saying yes to the buttering of your ego where will it end?

1819 T. Moore Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress 40 This buttering-up, against the grain, We thought was curs'd genteel in Bob.

1864 M. C. Houstoun Zoe's ‘Brand’ I. xviii. 156 Amongst the exiles from Old Erin, the ‘buttering up’ and ‘slithering down’ go on apace.

1900 United Service Mag. Jan. 163 The fortnight concluded with a general patting on the back and buttering up of everybody by the complacent brigadier.

1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill iv. 119 ‘Well..well, so we're going in for buttering-up, are we?’ he sneered. ‘You've seen which way the wind's blowing, have you?’

2016 M. Gable I'll see You in Paris 276 She is indeed a sweet-talker... But the buttering up of Mary was a case of keeping one's friends close and her enemies closer.

1716 J. Addison Free-holder No. 40. One of Mr. Congreve's Prologues, which compares a writer to a Buttering Gamester, that stakes all his Winnings upon every cast: So that if he loses the last Throw, he is sure to be undone.

1789 R. Burns Let. 2 Apr. (1985) I. 390 The author of those pretty little buttering paragraphs of eulogiums.

1827 T. Creevey Jrnl. 20 June in H. Maxwell Creevey Papers (1903) II. v. 121 You see the buttering speech Bruffam has been making at Liverpool in favor of Canning.

1887 Cassell's Family Mag. 116/2 But I love her, and that's saying more nor t'other chap, for all his buttering ways.

2013 S. Sheehey Audrey's Promise xvii. 153 ‘Good morning,’ Ethan drawled, his buttering smile in place.