1607 J. Playse Logbk. 5 July in S. Purchas Pilgrimes (1625) III. iii. xiv. 570 The fift, was very much wind at North Easterly.

1941 Ecol. Monogr. 11 374 Winds..proceed from north, south, southwest, and north-west—north-easterlies being the rarest.

1979 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 287 400 Armyworm outbreak localities and convergent weather patterns in Rhodesia... Northeasterlies: moths from Malawi.

1996 M. Hulse tr. W. G. Sebald Emigrants 87 We parked the car and walked along the beach, with a biting northeasterly at our backs.

1667 J. Wallis Let. 17 Mar. in Corr. (2003) II. 438 The current therefore of our Seas being North-Easterly.

1728 Philos. Trans. 1726–7 (Royal Soc.) 34 133 Between this Arch and the North-Easterly Stream the Sky was of an odd pale colour'd Light, with a mixture of Red in it.

1811 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 101 233 The moon's umbra then passed over the continent of Africa in a north-easterly direction.

1848 E. Bennett Trapper's Bride iii. 20 The ridge of the Alleghany mountains, which runs in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction through the western part of the state of Pennsylvania.

1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt II. xxii. 112 Her eyes had lost their bleak north-easterly expression.

1901 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 196 102 The north-easterly drift from the Atlantic comes to the surface only on the east side of the Faroe–Shetland channel.

1952 G. H. Dury Map Interpr. xiv. 160 Of a total of 145 round barrows, 137 lie on the Mendips..where, however, the gentle north-easterly slopes are avoided.

1994 New Scientist 19 Mar. 80/3 A condition known as the Jumping Frenchmen of Maine [is] a disorder leading to exaggerated reflex actions noted among French-Canadian lumberjacks in the most northeasterly state of the US.

1686 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 16 110 Cæteris paribus the greatest heights of the Mercury are found upon Easterly and North-easterly Winds.

?1709 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1873) II. 300 Often upon a North-easterly Wind they migrate into the Plantations.

1753 T. Woodroofe in J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea I. xxiii. 153 Hard gales of north easterly winds.

1775 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 65 176 I found, that in seven months out of the twelve the greatest height of the barometer was accompanied with a North-easterly wind.

1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 581 The north and north-easterly wind has lately prevailed in an unusual degree.

1847 A. Brontë Agnes Grey ii. 24 Though it was not far past the middle of September, the heavy clouds, and strong north-easterly wind combined to render the day extremely cold and dreary.

1878 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 149/1 In the New England States..north-easterly winds are cold.

1922 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 101 35 On the 18th, two samples were taken in north-easterly wind which had blown into the Wash from the North Sea.

1942 Jrnl. Ecol. 30 371 At the time of sampling, there was a strong, most biting, north-easterly wind, with rapid freezing of the pond.

1990 Field Feb. 4/2 (advt.) As north-easterly blizzards obliterated their base camp..the men felt reduced to insignificance.

1702 E. Knights Deed 23 May in L. B. Chapman York Deeds (1892) VII. f. 40 A certain piece or parcel of Salt-Marsh and thatch..bounded..Northeasterly & Northwesterly by a great Creek.

1745 Land Grant to A. Colson 29 May in www.surfsouth.com (O.E.D. Archive) All that parcel or Tract of Land..butting and bounding..North Easterly on vacant land.

1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 117 [Raleigh] coasted northeasterly as far as Chesapeak Bay.

1849 J. F. Cooper Sea Lions II. iv. 46 Both vessels were fairly out of the great bay..and running off north-easterly, at a rate of nearly ten knots in the hour.

a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) iii. 220 A direct course to Chamberlain Lake..would be about five miles northeasterly.

1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 112 A branch of Buck's Creek, flowing northeasterly.

1920 Sci. Monthly Nov. 394 The streams which flow northeasterly lie in sharp, steep-sided canyons.

1956 Ecol. Monogr. 26 278/1 The ice flows northeasterly over the narrow lip of a solitary outlet and cascades steeply toward the valley floor.

1992 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 56 70 (caption) The Ljubljana Gap runs northeasterly from Trieste to Postojna.