> as lemmas

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 5743 (MED) Licour..Lothneth tongis, & doth hem loude carp And causeth hem to walke at liberte..Wiþoute avys or discrecioun.

1607 C. Lever Queene Elizabeths Teares sig. C2^v Painefull to get, but lost at libertie.

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 710 (MED) Eueryche from oþer to be sette a-sonder, Þat þei myȝt, for more comodite, Eche be hem silfe werke at liberte.

c1450 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Complaint Black Knight (Fairf.) l. 661 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 409 (MED) Ye may to-gedre speke What-so yow list at good liberte.

1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. B.iii He beyng in so grete glorye aboue and at all lyberte.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. i. 134 More pitty that the Eagle should be mewed, While keihts and bussards prey at liberty.

1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 11 They..had rather haue their iudgements at libertie in differences of readings, then to be captiuated to one.

1684 J. Dryden tr. L. Maimbourg Hist. League 163 Who dar'd not to arrest any of them singly, the two remaining being at liberty.

1713 F. Bragge Undissembled & Persevering Relig. xiii. 417 Conscience is then generally at Liberty and Acts without Restraint.

1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 238 Sir, said the under keeper [of the jail], there are few men now at liberty wealthier than this Gentleman.

1858 A. Trollope Three Clerks III. xvi. 295 ‘If you knew it was coming,..why didn't you tell a chap?’ ‘I was not at liberty,’ said Mr. Snape, looking very wise.

1882 J. A. Alexander in J. L. Watson Life R. S. Candlish xv. 174 His right arm was at liberty.

1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo iv. 62 He lived half at liberty about camp until our collection grew so that it was necessary to cage him.

1980 Texas Monthly July 170 Society was not going to gain by leaving Lee Otis at liberty.

1990 Daily Tel. 23 May 18 His task was to check that another Abwehr agent, codenamed Tate by MI5, was still at liberty operating independently.

c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. xxx/2 That euery freman be at liberte to bye and selle eueri w^t other.

1585 C. Fetherston tr. J. Calvin Comm. Actes Apostles i. 5 The Lord openeth the prison for them that they may be at libertie to fulfil their function.

1652 C. Cotterell tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Cassandra v. 70 When..I was at liberty to reflect upon that Adventure, I found in it great causes of affliction.

1692 R. L'Estrange Life Æsop in Fables (1708) 2 The Reader is at Liberty what to Believe and what Not.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 109. ⁋1 Some particular Matters, which I am not at Liberty to report.

1796 W. Cliffton Group 20 After..I was at liberty to contemplate, more fully, the physiognomy of the figures before me, I soon discovered three or four faces which varied essentially from the rest.

1801 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 5 173 If they should accord with the spirit of your very valuable Journal, you are at full liberty to insert them.

1866 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 1st Ser. 26 He is quite at liberty to think so.

1920 B. Cronin Timber Wolves 9 In the seclusion of the outback they are at liberty to revert to grossness unspeakable.

1971 L. Bangs in Who put Bomp! Fall 79 The name of which I am not at liberty to repeat here.

2000 New Yorker 10 July 78/3 Whether our heroines break out I am not at liberty to divulge.

1509 J. Fisher Serm. Henry VIJ (de Worde) sig. B.ij^v Our lord taketh into his custodye the lytell & humble persones. I was humbled & he set me at lyberte.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Luke iv. f. lxxix^v Frely to sett att liberte them that are brused.

1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 136/2 If she would apply to his request, she shoulde be..set at liberty.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 323 He..confessed hee would vndertake for the Wolfe, if they would set him at liberty.

a1649 W. Drummond Hist. Scotl. (1655) 102 He was inconstant..in setting at liberty the man who would prove his Executioner.

1710 I. Newton & J. Ellis Let. Sept. in I. Newton Corr. (1975) V. 69 She was again committed to prison & convicted..& was set at liberty upon giving security to transport herself.

1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. I. 253 Its Acid being set at liberty.

1803 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 163 The maniac appears perfectly composed..; but, if set at liberty, immediately becomes furious.

1896 Westm. Gaz. 20 Feb. 8/2 The Battersea colombophile, whose pigeons..are set at liberty and allowed to fly home.

1918 E. J. Dillon Eclipse of Russia x. 178 He showed them his passe-partout and they set him at liberty at once.

1968 Americas 24 387 He demanded that Iglesias be set at liberty.

1992 J. M. Kelly Short Hist. Western Legal Theory iii. 107 The ninth-century abbot Smaragdus..admonishes Christians to set their slaves at liberty.

a1690 J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Fourth Pt. (1701) I. ii. 59 Their army was at liberty for further exploits.

1761 J. Mordant Compl. Steward I. 226 The Malt-house is a convenient edifice to lay any materials in out of the way; for most part of it will be at liberty, except a month or two in the year.

1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. v. 75 I dressed as well as I could for shivering, and washed when there was a basin at liberty.

1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford i. 4 I have no doubt they will call: so be at liberty after twelve.

1879 Era 20 July 16/2 (advt.) J. F. Walker and Mdlle. Amy Samwells will shortly be at Liberty. Acts consist of Jockey, Juggling Acts (Bareback), [etc.].

1919 Billboard (Cincinnati) 25 Oct. 74/4 (advt.) At Liberty—Snake charmer or geek man; would like to join show going south.

1946 L. P. Hartley Sixth Heaven v. 103 Miss Cherrington will be at liberty in a few minutes.

1997 M. A. Morrison John Barrymore i. 48 At liberty once again, Barrymore accepted the lead in yet another romantic comedy.