c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1859 Ne ther was holden no disconfitynge But as a Iustes or a tourneyinge.

c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 157 (MED) Summe ben good to be rehercid into þe abatyng and discumfityng of her ouer moche glorifiers.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Macc. iv. 35 Lysias seynge the discomfetynge of his men and the manlynesse of the Iewes.

c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1922) II. 309 Ane invincibill bulwark for the faithfull in disconfutting of the wicked barbarianis.

1693 J. Whittel Constantinus Redivivus 190 The discomfiting or overthrow of our Enemies at Sea.

1786 J. Fleming New Syst. Astron. xxix. 158 After the battle with Jabin king of Canaan, and the discomfiting of Sisera and his host.

1847 J. G. Francis Notes from Jrnl. Italy & Sicily 142 The entry of the saint's relics into the city, and the discomfiting of Famine, War, Pestilence, and Heresy before them.

1905 J. L. C. Booth Trouble in Balkans iii. 42 In this dark grimy hovel they sat on the uneven earth floor discussing their plans for the discomfiting of the Turks.

1996 J. Blenkinsopp Hist. Prophecy in Israel (rev. ed.) xxiii. 231 Satisfaction at the discomfiting of traditional enemies mixed with apprehension for the fate of Jerusalem.

1826 Cobbett's Polit. Reg. 8 July 114 Mr. Fyler's buttered ale..appears to have been..efficacious in the discomfiting of my old friends, ‘Peter Moore’, and ‘Edward Ellice’.

1902 H. Drummond King's Pawn i. 9 With the consolation came, as often happens to the discomfiting of a man's ease, a new cause for disquietude.

a1909 J. M. Alston Rice-Planter & Sportsman (1999) i. 28 Sometimes he [sc. the pony] would prefer the side-walk, to the discomfiting of pedestrians.

1990 Washington Post (Nexis) 17 June d7 Political institutions..acquiesce in the demand for unrestricted subsidies to support the shocking, provoking and discomfiting of the subsidizers.

1760 Battle of Reviews ix. 126 My Soul is sorrowful, that such long suffering Wights as you are, and so sturdy to bear up against all discomfiting Adventures, should at present be so much puzzled in the Paths of Fear.

?1765 B. Wallin Lect. on Primitive Christianity v. xxvi. 428 The subject can hear but little..which is very discomfiting.

1848 Times 15 Dec. 4/6 We cannot forget that the latter committed one or two blunders of an awkward and discomfiting description.

1881 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 2 220 Had Pindar meant discomfiting dismissal, πέμπω would hardly have been the word used.

1923 Boys' Life July 48/2 You must constantly be prepared for the unforeseen and figure out before starting upon a trip the various discomfiting things which may happen.

1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 1458/1 Even more discomfiting is the resurrection of the syndrome of neurasthenia.

2003 Columbia Journalism Rev. Sept. 7/1 Identification with the nation's leaders becomes the order of the day, unmarred by discomfiting questions about the state of the emperor's clothes.