> as lemmas

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 75 Ase swifte as is nu monnes þocht as is þe sunne gleam.

c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 1924 And euer mo, as swyft as thought This queynt hous a bout went.

a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) l. 2670 (MED) It is as swift as þoght.

1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 261 Fleeter then Arrowes, bullets wind thought. View more context for this quotation

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 554 Faster then Thought, or Time. View more context for this quotation

1708 N. Rowe Royal Convert v. i. 53 Fly swift as Thought, and set her free this Moment.

1778 R. Cumberland Battle of Hastings v. 87 Swift as thought I flew; And as a sturdy churl his pole-axe aim'd Full at the hero's crest, I sprung upon him And sheath'd my rapier in the caitiff's throat.

1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Animal Life 230 Quick as thought the skipper hurled his weapon.

1917 Mod. Lang. Jrnl. 1 137 Although the expression ‘quick as thought’ is an oft used simile for rapidity, thought is not so quick as nervous reaction.

1957 Times 28 Sept. 10/5 Swift as thought, sharp in all his reactions Segura was, as they say, ‘on the ball’ and devilishly determined from first to last.

1998 W. Barton in H. Marks Bk. Dope Stories (2001) ii. 137 I now, however, as quick as thought, completely revived.

2004 A. N. Athanassakis tr. Homeric Hymns (ed. 2) 18 Thence, fleet as thought, he leaves the earth for Olympos.