1795 F. Reynolds Rage ii. ii. 28 Why, with our young men of quality, quizzing is a substitute for wit, my dear; so one man challeng'd me to play on the violin, and when I rose to move my elbows, another whip'd the chair from under me.

c1795 ‘Mr. Daggerwood’ Fashionable Dramatic Instit. (single sheet) Youths..will be instructed in the noble art of Pugilism, driving four in hand, horse dealing, quizzing, cutting, tying cravats, [etc.].

1797 tr. A.-R. Le Sage Hist. Vanillo Gonzales II. xxiii. 35 Being neatly dressed, I may venture to assert, that I run no risk of those quizzings, which in these resorts, awkward and unfashionable figures are fated to endure.

1802 G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 508 He made a most brilliant speech with much quizzing on Mr. A.

1807 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life II. xviii. 208 Thinking his Critic a capital Quizzing-stock.

1830 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I III. v. 75 A remarkable instance of..persiflage, or what we now call quizzing.

1862 J. Skelton Nugæ Criticæ ix. 402 That indirect and gentlemanly quizzing,..so much relished by the House of Commons.

1904 Times 12 July 2/6 Lucinde..humiliates him before the guests assembled in his salon... [Annette] is hurt by such ill-natured quizzing of poor Boursoufle.

1941 Times 7 Feb. 7/6 He had the lighter touches too—playfulness, quizzing, the drawing of the long bow, fun sufficiently robust.

1877 President's Rep. to Board of Regents (Univ. Michigan) 11 It would be gratifying if..more of what we may term class-room work, drilling, quizzing, could thus be secured.

1882 Allen County (Ohio) Democrat 21 Sept. 1/4 Downing street will be full of the quizzing of diplomatists on this point.

1910 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 18 448 In the college proper I give the single lecture and my younger colleagues do the quizzing.

1947 Dixon (Illinois) Evening Tel. 24 Mar. 2/1 One of the most long, drawn-out quizzings of one man in recent times.

1990 R. M. Fried Nightmare in Red ii. 55 The quizzing of two women in Internal Revenue who were alleged to be Communists.

2005 Coventry Evening Tel. (Nexis) 11 May 19 The 75-year-old made his remarks to a public inquiry..during a quizzing by the airport's legal team.

1797 Quiz No. 31. 208 The supposed robber, was no other than a quizzing fellow.

1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl V. ix. 249 The gentlemen had enjoyed the joke, but they were also all, not excepting the quizzing captain, now concerned.

1806 T. S. Surr Winter in London III. vii. 197 A subject of mirthful wonder to several quizzing beaux.

1867 Felton's Greece, Anc. & Mod. II. 348 Attacked by the older students..with all sorts of quizzing questions.

1867 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) I. 145 A most quizzing, merry, entertaining, guileless, and unmalicious man.

1911 Times 22 July 17/3 This latter provision may be said to provide a clear answer to the quizzing question ‘When is a contributor not a contributor?’

1915 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap vii. 134 He began a quizzing sort of conversation with me that lasted near a half-hour, I should say.

1993 G. Bradshaw Misrepresentations ii. 146 The second act of Henry V sets up an ironic, quizzing relationship between the ‘high’ and ‘low’.

1997 C. Shields Larry's Party (1998) xi. 218 Her old quizzing curiosity had revived wonderfully after weeks of insomnia and gloomy note scribbling in the British Library.