1609 R. Bernard Faithfull Shepheard (new ed.) 85 Some in meditating doe vse to speake and gesture.

1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon To Parl. sig. A2 Some of our severe Gnostics, whose little reading, and lesse meditating holds ever..that which it took up.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xviii. 75 The active powers of his mind were almost continually exercised in reading, writing, or meditating.

1820 J. F. Cooper Precaution II. xvi. 222 Francis will be a Duke, and have a noble estate—yet..he is so unhappy in his meditating—, and uncouth in his manners, I cannot think of offering him to your daughter as a husband.

c1867 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) I. 286 My meditatings, musings, and reflections were continual.

1873 A. Dobson Vignettes in Rhyme 14 Not that his ‘meditating’ rose Beyond a sunny summer doze.

1993 V. Headley Excess x. 96 They would..congregate with the other local dreads for long smoking and meditating sessions.

1645 W. Lilly Starry Messenger 36 The good man (if he be born) sleeps quietly, untill that Angel appointed for his Guardian, excite him in a moment to rouze up his meditating thoughts, and to convert Consultation into Action.

1715 M. Davies Εἰκων Μικρο-βιβλικὴ 245 Mr. Ignatius's Rules for his meditating Exercists.

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. lxxv. 348 It [sc. a captive bird]..with meditating eyes, first surveys, and then attempts, its wired canopy.

1814 J. H. Reynolds Safie 14 Recollection Of Safie's sorrow darts its pain Across the meditating brain.

1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey II. iv. vi. 220 The meditating Suicide will smile on the arm of a companion.

1914 M. J. Cawein Poet & Nature 158 Deep in the meditating wood..One listens.

1990 M. Lipman Thank you for having Me (BNC) 95 The sight of the MGM lion, the Pearly Dean Gates or even the Pathe cockerel gives the quiet hum of anticipation one usually associates with meditating monks.

1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xix. 162 He enquired..Why she looked so meditatingly?

1846 Littell's Living Age 14 Feb. 313 For some moments, Blast, by the aid of his lantern, looked meditatingly upon Tangle.

1873 E. Bulwer-Lytton Kenelm Chillingly II. v. vii. 372 Meditatingly propped on his elbow.