a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2807 Has þou her..ani man, Sun or doghter, mik or mau, to þe langand.

c1400 (?c1380) Pearl 572 For mony ben calle[d], þaȝ fewe be mykez.

1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 119 He made..Hymselfe like to Brethel..That then was the dukes preuy myke.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 417 Hit waltered on þe wylde flod..Withouten mast oþer myke oþer myry bawelyne.

1410–12 in N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 475 (MED) Un seilyerde, un bowespret..un sherhok, un mykehok.

1417 Foreign Accts. 8 Henry V (Public Rec. Office) G/1 (MED) iiij lanternis, 1 Bedewe, j mekhoke.

1496 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 292 For xxxvj gunchameris, and for mykkis and bandis to the gunnys.

1497 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 334 For iiij waw of irne, to mak bandis to duris, crukis, mykkis and slottis to gunnis.

1513 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1902) IV. 485 Item, to Johne Kill, smyth, for xl stane of greit ward for mykkis to gunnys.

1566 in T. Thomson Coll. Inventories Royal Wardrobe (1815) 169 Item sex cutthrottis of irne with thair mekis.

1825 P. Egan Life of Actor 28 The performances of the last night at the theatre are often discussed over a mike at the fireside the next morning respecting the abilities of the actors. Foot-n., Mike or Shammock. Technical or cant phrases amongst printers. To have a mike is to loiter away the time, when it might be more usefully or profitably employed.

1890 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang (at cited word) Mike (tailors), to do a mike, to pretend to be working or hang about.

1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. xxiv. 238 It was pleasant to..share the tobacco and biscuit, and make sure of a good ‘mike’ on this side of a life to come.

1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 155 Mike, to (to do a), to make off. To avoid duty.

1940 M. Marples Public School Slang 119 To do a mike (St Bees, 1915 +), to break bounds.

1955 ‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren iii. 83 That's a good mike for you, but you'll have plenty to do later on.

1958 Times 26 Sept. 19/1 The day of the cheerful veteran forward, gratefully relying upon opportunities for a mild ‘mike’, may be coming to an end.

1956 Jrnl. Air Law & Commerce 23 81 It is now suggested that, in the event of the majority of the ICAO's members aproving the following five new words: Charlie, Mike, November, Uniform and X-ray to replace the words: Coca, Metro, Nectar, Union and Extra, these new words will become operative as from March 1st 1956.

?1956 Internat. Standards & Recomm. Pract. (Convention on Internat. Civil Aviation: Annex 10) (ed. 4) Amendment 23. 56 a When proper names..are spelled out in radiotelephony, the following alphabet shall be used... [Table.] M Mike maik MIKE.

1976 M. Brandonstiel Breaker, Breaker, Tea-Four vii. 105 If there's a chance for error, say the word [sc. Maple] phonetically: ‘Mike Alpha Papa Lima Echo’.

1990 J. McPhee Looking for Ship 36 If you say those words—Whiskey, Mike, Romeo, Golf—anywhere in the world, they mean this ship.

1992 S. Albrecht Contact & Cover i. iv. 36 Some officers will use the phrase ‘Code Frank’ or ‘Code Mike’ to tell a partner of the suspect's (f)elony or (m)isdemeanor warrants.

1998 R. Stone Damascus Gate ii. xxxviii. 303 ‘Meet you on three-eleven mike hotel.’ Switching to the peacekeeping force's military frequency was against regulations.

1986 O. Stone Platoon (1987) 87 Bravo Three..should be here in two zero mikes.

1991 G. A. Linderer Eyes of Eagle 37 A pair of gunships would be heading out in zero-five mikes.

1995 Space: above & Beyond (television programme) in J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. (at cited word) That we do in thirty mikes. So suit up.

1956 All Hands May 9/2 In any talk of unsung heroes of Operation Deepfreeze there are always the Mike Boats and their crews.

1986 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 26 Aug. b-3 By dawn, amphibious landing craft called Mike boats had floated to shore with their supplies.

1997 Independent on Sunday 6 July (Review Suppl.) 13/4 There were flat-bottomed salvage barges known as ‘Mike’ boats and two specially equipped salvage boats—the Grasp and the Grapple.

1911 Pop. Elec. July 254 When the handmike is held in the hand, the receiver being at the ear, the transmitter is just the proper distance from the lips.

1926 G. McNamee You're on Air viii. 144 The man at the ‘mike’ watches..and tells the audience the type of play.

1928 G. Ade Let. 7 July (1973) 134 Open the act with a fake microphone all set and adjusted for broadcasting. You come out and talk into the ‘mike’ announcing the name of a fake station in the town..and say you have a very interesting program ahead and then you can read it into the mike.

1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. xi. 68 He delighted in entertainment, liked to make his little speech at the mike.

1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues iii. 48 I got to the mike somehow and grabbed it.

1968 R. Atkins Heretofore 19 (stage direct.) Narrator: (on mike).

1973 J. Ludwig Woman her Age i. 45 Looking over the stage apron she put the mike down, gave one fast peel upward, and stood there, naked newborn Eve.

1991 CD Rev. Oct. 92/3 The soloists are a shade too close to the mikes in relation to the choir.

1920 Arms & Man 68 7 In connection with the issue of ‘mikes’, it would seem to be about time that a service rear sight with a micrometer screw incorporated is about due.

1943 Sci. & Mech. Spring 112/2 Hold the ‘mike’ between the thumb and forefinger..and let the weight of the micrometer ‘get’ the diameter.

1971 Tools & their Uses (U.S. Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel) (1973) iii. 78 Where exact measurements are required, a micrometer caliper (mike) is used.

1989 New Scientist 4 Feb. 92/1 A group of thoroughly imperial setters I took for training sessions in quality control looked with deep suspicion at the metric micrometers handed out—yet, after a few minutes' explanation: ‘But it's easier than the inch mike!’

a1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) ii. vi. 117 But, mate, you let the flight down, when he takes the mike out of you every time.

1935 ‘G. Ingram’ Cockney Cavalcade i. 14 He wouldn't let Pancake ‘take the mike’ out of him.

1940 Notes & Queries 1 June 382/1 ‘Taking the mike out of’ anyone means pulling his leg, having a game with him.

1956 J. Cannan People to be Found i. 14 They won't 'alf take the mike out of 'im.

1973 ‘B. Mather’ Snowline vi. 75 Watch it... The Swami don't dig taking the mike out of the gods.

1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang § 774/18 Mike,..a mikado type locomotive.

1943 Amer. Speech 18 167/2 Mike, Mikado type engine.

1966 H. Sheppard Dict. Railway Slang (ed. 2) 8 Mike, shunting yard engine (ER).

1967 Sat. Evening Post 23 Sept. 88 A 17-year-old street dealer who..feeds her 3,000 mikes.

1970 N. Saunders Alternative London xxii. 168 Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is the most common hallucinogen—and by far the most powerful, in that you only need a few millionths of a gram (micro-grams, ‘mikes’) to trip for eight hours.

1973 J. Wood North Beat x. 126 They wanted me to tell where I got the mikes... The acid, see?

1979 New West 13 Aug. 17 It was 1,000 mikes, which is more than anyone should ever take.

1993 Canad. Fiction Mag. No. 82. 16 A writer might be ripped on 500 mikes of something.

1838 C. H. Timperley Printers' Man. 114 Mike, or Shammock, when a person neglects his duty for his own recreation, or through sheer idleness.

1841 C. H. Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua 505 Mike, to idle, loiter..‘Jacky wants to mike.’ Craven Gloss. and Nares have it michin and mich.

1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 62 Mike, to loiter; or as a costermonger defined it, to ‘lazy about’.

1887 W. E. Henley Villon's Good Night 3 You spunges miking round the pubs.

1894 A. Morrison Tales Mean Streets 47 ‘I ain't settled with you yut, my gal,’ he added to Lizer; ‘mikin' about at 'ome an' 'idin' money.’

1959 B. J. Farmer Murder Next Year xv. 85 A policeman is paid to work his beat, not ‘mike’ with or without permission.

1959 N. Lofts Heaven in your Hand 145 There was nobody to send. Both my young b—s have miked off.

1974 P. Evett in J. Burnett Useful Toil iii. 336 [He would] spy on us as we worked, and then..thunder at any one he thought was miking.

a1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) The diameter mikes at 0.534 inch.

1988 Guns & Weapons Winter 25/1 Höwitzer wadcutters weighed in at 144.4 grains and ‘miked out’ at .0004″ over their nominal .357″.

1980 Musicians Only 26 Apr. 14/5 Simultaneously miking-up two sounds.

1986 Keyboarder Player Apr. 41/1 (advt.) If you've ever tried to mike-up an acoustic piano, you'll appreciate the versatility of the PXI's d.i. to the mixer.

1992 N. Hornby Fever Pitch 197 However much they mike up the crowd, they will be unable to create any atmosphere whatsoever, because there will be nobody there: we'll all be at home.

1996 C. Jenkins in P. Trynka Rock Hardware 61/1 Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics..used to mike up the internal speaker to capture its tinny sound.