a1450 York Plays (1885) 151 Þan schall þat fandelyng felle, Belyue his bliss schall blynne.

1589 T. Nashe Anat. Absurditie sig. D Howe farre are these fondlings from imitating Crates the Philosopher.

1594 G. Chapman Σκìα Νυκτòς sig. E Thou and thy Nimphs shall..mocke the fondling, for his mad aspire.

1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. i. 28 See how yonder fondlings teare Their fleeces in the brakes.

1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge To Rdr. I should lacken it..by making such a Fondling the Penman of it.

1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds & Neighbourhood 24 Their Tim there ‘a fondling,—t' biggest it lot, stood owert' barn gāaping like a rook’.

1580 T. Churchyard Light Bondell Disc.: Churchyards Charge 15 (heading) A farewell to a fondlyng.

1640 H. Mill Nights Search 128 When this Spark is from his Fondling gone.

1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccxlviii. 215 Partiality in a Parent is commonly Unlucky..for Fondlings are in danger to be made Fools.

1700 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding (new ed.) iv. xix. 428 That may shew it [sc. an opinion] to be a Fondling of our own.

1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane iii. i. sig. F The Fondling once of her dear Father's Arms.

1834 R. Southey Doctor I. 111 He became his father's companion imperceptibly as he ceased to be his fondling.

1986 T. Murphy Bailegangaire i, in Plays: 2 (1993) 91 Let ye be settling now, my fondlings, and I'll be giving ye a nice story tonight when I finish this.

1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? ix. 312 First Moneth's an Honey Moneth unto the Bride, Next Moneth all fondling must be laid aside.

1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. iv. 211 The various Expressions of their Fondness for their Infants, which fondling of them ever encreases.

a1788 W. J. Mickle Siege Marseilles in Poems & Trag. (1794) ii. iv. 258 Cyrus made no..amorous fondling To fan her pride.

1848 Q. Educ. Mag. 1 264 The child's appropriate stimulus is love, a thinking love, tenderness, kindness of expression, looks, smiles, pleasing tone of voice, little caresses, and fondlings.

1902 All Ireland Rev. 16 Aug. 378/2 It was in order to teach young farmers self-reliance and not to trust too much to the parental fondling of the State.

1961 W. Brown Bedeviled 17 Gradually, however, the fondling developed into open sex play which frightened her.

2006 New Yorker 1 May 93/1 Hector's fondling of his students, who take turns riding pillion on his motorcycle, is depicted in the same spirit of comic tolerance.

1582 R. Stanyhurst in tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis 96 If she coye, that kendleth thee fondling loouer his onset.

1676 J. Glanvill Seasonable Refl. 207 What can the fondling flesh and the world do for thee?

c1704 M. Prior Henry & Emma 65 He call'd her..his Nut-brown Maid, The friends and tenants took the fondling word.

1798 F. Burney Let. 3 Mar. in Jrnls. & Lett. (1973) IV. 100 He..called out, in a fondling manner ‘Mama! Mama!’

1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke I. i. 17 And spoke to my mother in a fondling, patronising way.

1889 Pick-me-up 7 Dec. 154/2 But their kitten-like amorosity is more fondling than steadfast.

1921 Sci. Amer. 9 Apr. 284/1 From 75 to 90 per cent of the eggs hatch under the fondling care of man, whereas but two to four per cent are transformed into fish when left to develop naturally.

2000 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 30 Mar. 9 He had behaved in..an inappropriate and/or unnecessary manner in a surgical procedure by touching or placing his hands on a patient's genitals in a fondling manner.

a1772 J. Graeme Poems Several Occasions (1773) 120 That he took me in his soft circling arms, And did fondlingly kiss me the while.

1835 New Monthly Mag. 45 80 She clings fearingly and fondlingly to Lablache.

1984 Washington Post 18 Sept. e3/2 Director Ron Satlof photographs guns tenderly, fondlingly, with distortion lenses that put the barrel up the viewer's nose.

2004 T. Wilkinson tr. P. Esterházy in Island of Sound 295 Finally their hair..expediently bound with a skimpy bright red, yellow or black rubber band..; that too I would undo and root fondlingly in their hair.