a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 7 Storie is wytnesse of tyme, mynde of lyf..story weldeþ passyng doynges.

1387–8 Petition London Mercers in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 36 We haue be comaunded oft tyme vp owre ligeaunce to vnnedeful & vnleueful dyuerse doynges.

c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1681 The exilynge of kyngis Of Rome for here orible doingis.

a1475 J. Shirley Death James (BL Add. 5467) in Miscellanea Scotica (1818) II. 21 That horribill doyng and faite..at [= that] the said traitours hadde done.

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Mattyns f. iiii^v That al our doinges may be ordred by thy gouernaunce.

1611 Bible (King James) Prov. xx. 11 Even a child is known by his doings . View more context for this quotation

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. i. 61 Volumes of report Run..Vpon thy doings . View more context for this quotation

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 720 A Reverend Sire..of thir doings great dislike declar'd. View more context for this quotation

1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions iii. 22 Turning the whole frame of Nature upside down by his vile Doings there.

1779 S. Johnson Let. in H. L. Piozzi Lett. to & from S. Johnson (1788) II. 73 Mrs. Williams talks of coming home this week from Kingston, and then there will be merry doings.

1799 J. Jay Corr. & Public Papers (1893) IV. 259 Our conversation here turns so much on Great Britain and (as some phrase it) her doings.

1816 W. Scott Antiquary III. xiii. 271 Ye'll do this poor ruined family the best day's doing that has been done them since Redhand's days.

1818 J. Keats Let. 13 Jan. (1958) I. 205 Lawk! Molly there's been such doings.

1825 S. T. Coleridge Lett., Conversat., & Recoll. II. 212 My thoughts, wishes, and prayers follow you in all your doings and strivings.

1889 J. Masterman Scotts of Bestminster III. xv. 41 A London correspondent who kept the country-folk up to the doings of the townsfolk.

1913 J. E. Harrison Anc. Art & Ritual v. 141 The spectators will not stay long to watch a doing doomed to monotony.

1923 R. Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 216 The talk in the camps turned on great doings—everything connected with the front line was ‘doings’.

1948 E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxx. 80 Stewing with rage Concerning the landlady's doings with a lodger unnamed.

2001 Y. Martel Life of Pi (2002) xxv. 71 My religious doings were reported to my parents in the hushed, urgent tones of treason revealed.

1833 Cambrian Q. Mag. 1 Apr. 263 The smokes of the few cottage-fires bespeak supper-doings and comforts for the tired poor man within.

1838 E. Flagg Far West II. 72 ‘Well, stranger, what'll ye take: wheat-bread and chicken fixens, or corn-bread and common doins?’ by the latter..being signified bacon.

1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase II. xl. 58 A snug breakfast of chicken fixins, eggs, ham-doins, and corn slap-jacks.

1859 Knickerbocker 53 317 Tell Sal to..have some flour-doins and chicken-fixins for the stranger.

1880 J. C. Harris Uncle Remus: Songs & Sayings i. 18 Sposen' you drap roun' termorrer an' take dinner wid me. We ain't got no great doin's at our house, but I speck de old 'oman..kin sorter scramble roun' 'en git up sump'n.

1908 Dial. Notes 3 306 Doing(s),..prepared dishes, especially fancy dishes.

2011 C. Dunn Anthem for Doomed Youth v. 47 Daisy told Elsie to bring a Thermos flask of coffee with all the doings. ‘Oh no, madam... If you've got guests coming, I'll bring the proper coffee pot and all when they arrive.’

1847 W. T. Porter Quarter Race Kentucky 84 [The girls] come pourin out of the woods.., fixed out in all sorts of fancy doins, from the broad-striped homespun to the sun~flower calico.

1856 Knickerbocker 47 406 Pretty girl that in the black fixings and white arrangements, with blue doings.

1919 Athenæum 25 July 664/2 ‘Doings’, practically anything: ‘Pass the doings.’

1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 80 Doings, the, a word with every kind of meaning and application. E.g., In quarters, ‘Pass the doings’, might mean bread, salt, a pack of cards, or anything at hand. ‘I'll have a drop of the doings’ (i.e., whatever drink there is going). ‘Here comes Jerry with the doings’ (i.e., an enemy aeroplane sighted).

1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 101 Doings for gravy, salt, sugar, pepper, milk or anything wanted at a particular time for a particular purpose.

a1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) ii. xvi. 144 Cook chuckled, snatched somebody's blacking-tin and with three swift passes of a boot-brush painted his doings jet-black.

1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock v. i. 193 Her skirt drawn up above her knees she waited for him with luxurious docility... ‘You've got the doings, haven't you?’

1959 H. E. Bates Breath of French Air (1962) 51 There must be a doings in the bedroom somewhere.

1979 P. Lively Treasures Time (1986) iv. 58 If either of you need the doings it's first right at the end of the passage.

1996 M. Cheek Sleeping Beauties ii. 9 ‘This arm's giving me real gyp. Now I'll need the doings.’.. She straightens her beautiful neck and looks down her nose..and says ‘not doings, massage.’

1957 ‘N. Culotta’ They're Weird Mob ix. 126 ‘The doin's’ was the contents of the lavatory pan.

1967 P. Bailey At the Jerusalem III. 191 ‘I did my doings. Because of the journey.’ ‘That's good.’

1984 P. Beale Partridge's Dict. Slang (ed. 8) 326/1 ‘There's a lump of bird's doings on the windowsill.’

1993 M. Atwood in Quarry Mag. Apr. 143 Madam and Monsieur looked at the eggs and bacon as if I'd put a plate of fried dog doings before them.

2000 A. Thorpe Shifts (2001) 13 They used to do their doings in the garden, I remember. Both types. Big and little. No plumbing.

1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Rebuelto, cavallo rebuelto A lustie doing horse.

1644 J. Maxwell Answer to Worthy Gentleman 21 The active and doing men.

1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge Ep. Ded. 'Tis a misbecomingness to have a doing Philosophy set forth by a talking Philosopher.

1792 Ld. Grenville in W. E. H. Lecky Eng. in 18th Cent. (1887) VI. 54 All that the most doing Government could do in twenty years.

a1847 T. Chalmers Lect. Epist. of Paul to Romans (1848) IV. lxxvi. 3 There is a way of duty..the entrance upon which requires but the union of a desirous heart with a doing hand.

1908 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 4 Jan. 7/6 The man who is a man—a strong, active doing man.

1958 M. Van Doren Don Quixote's Profession iii. 68 The hero is quite as much a talking as a doing man.

2005 Time Out 7 Dec. 30/3 I am a doing kind of person..the advantage of having me in an organisation is that if you want it to happen, it will happen.