a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 80^v Frenesie..is an hote posteme in certeyne skynnes and felles of þe brayne, and þerto folewiþ wakynge and ravinge.

c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 318 He sette hym doun And in his rauynge [v.rr. raueinge; gronynge] seyde his orisoun For verray wo out of his wit he breyde.

a1450 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Caius 336/725) (1970) 25 (MED) Þe i chapitre is..Of correccioun of accidentis & þingis þat happen to hem þat ben woundid, as..of swownynge, of reuynge of þe witt, of rauynge, & siche.

1531 W. Tyndale Answere Mores Dialoge f. lvi^v That stopppnge [sic] of hir throte, that rauinge, those greuouse panges.

1568 G. Skeyne Breue Descriptioun Pest v. sig. A7 As..propensnes to sleip albeit on day, rauing and walking.

1626 R. Bolton Some Gen. Direct. for Comfortable Walking with God (ed. 2) 132 The frothy rauing of a greasie drunken Ale-house-haunter.

1630 P. Massinger Renegado iv. i. sig. H1^v Our best hope for his recouery, is that His rauing leaues him.

1649 M. Nedham Pithy Exhort. Hugh Peters 4 Superstition and tyrannie raged like the raving of the waters.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 46. ¶1 There is nothing in them but Obscurity and Confusion, Raving and Inconsistency.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. x. viii They put her, however, to bed, but her raving grew still more wild and incessant.

1803 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1851) I. 480 In vain will you say that this is idle and declamatory raving.

1850 Times 17 May 8/1 In his raving he used expressions which seemed to indicate that his brain had been affected by the use of some poisonous ingredient in the lotion.

1919 G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House Pref. in Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, & Playlets of War p. xxix The raving was useful to the efficient, because, as it was always wide of the mark, it often distracted attention very conveniently.

1954 L. M. Starr Bohemian Brigade viii. 174 For all his raving at the press,..there were reporters who admired him, and said so.

2003 D. Adams Colonial Odysseys iii. 129 The thread of logic remaining in his raving is terror and guilt for surviving the deaths of hundreds.

1990 Face June 100/3 Glasgow is fast becoming Britain's undisputed mecca for raving.

1992 Independent 6 Mar. 6/1 Just as house music borrows from a host of musical sources, raving steals from hip-hop, disco, vogueing and aerobics.

1993 Sun Mag. (Baltimore) 15 Aug. 10 She never attends a rave without bringing something to give away—usually toys or candy. ‘I just feel that a part of raving is sharing,’ she says.

1996 C. J. Stone Fierce Dancing i. 10 Gem was the reason I took up raving in the first place.

2002 New Statesman 6 May 33/3 A London-based infrastructure..that is basically anarcho-capitalist, and has existed since the early days of raving in the 1990s.

1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique i. f. 5^v Euermore the gladder, the lesse rauyng there is or stirryng in this matter.

a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) 292 (MED) Vnto no hird þai wil tak kepe, Bot raykes forth als raueand schep.

1850 Young Emigrants i. ii. 25 Even the old nurse at the rectory was heard to say, ‘that though she could not discover any raving beauty in her, she must confess she had seen worse-looking girls.’

1870 L. M. Alcott Old-fashioned Girl xii. 236 Dress that girl up, and she'd be a raving, tearing beauty.

1892 F. M. Crawford Three Fates II. 102 You are such a raving success, as they call it.

1914 D. Beatty Let. 16 Feb. in W. S. Chalmers Life & Lett. David, Earl Beatty (1951) vi. 127 There were some funny old trouts and some spritely young ones, but no raving beauties.

1934 G. C. Tyler & J. C. Furnas Whatever goes Up v. 143 We were a raving triumph in Albany, where we opened.

1995 J. Burroway tr. Plautus Little Carthaginian in Comedies III. 20 A raving knockout I dare say. I dare say a dozen Kings are slitting their throats for you.

1541 T. Paynell tr. Felicius Conspiracie of Catiline f. 48 Cethegus was so inflamed, and so wrothefully ranne here and there, that without any doubt he semed to wax rauinge mad.

1620 T. Dekker Dreame sig. F2 At this, ten thousand Soules (rauing mad) Roard That on their Heads the selfe-same shot was scoard.

1687 M. B. Whiting Let. 8 Aug. in R. Law Eng. in W. Afr. (2001) II. 300 He is not himselfe, continually raving mad, talks at random, his discourse always about his wife and children in Europe.

1734 H. Fielding Intrig. Chambermaid ii. vi. 33 I find, I am distracted, I am stark raving mad.

a1796 R. Burns in Scots Mag. (1797) Oct. 769/2 Raving mad I wish [etc.].

1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab v. 64 When..religion Drives his wife raving mad.

1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 503/1 The loco, or rattle-weed,..drives them raving crazy.

1945 Mt. Pleasant (Iowa) News 26 May 4 Miles of human masses gone utterly stark raving mad.

1996 L. Lowndes How to make Anyone fall in Love with You xxxvi. 217 Another gentle habit of the gentle sex that, unfortunately, drives men stark raving berserk .

2007 Guardian (Nexis) 21 Aug. (G2 section) 9 They must be raving mad because this is what it entails: two sling-shaped silicone cups are inserted through slits beneath each breast.