[See -ING1.]
† 1. Accusation; persecution. Obs.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter cxviii. 134. Fra craving of men [L. a calumniis hominum] me bie þou.
2. Earnest or urgent asking; begging.
c. 1430. Freemasonry, 359. Loke that thou pay wele every mon algate … That no cravynge be y-mad to the.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 29. Shamfull crauyng (quoth he) must haue shamefull naie.
1612–5. Bp. Hall, Contempl. N. T., II. vi. The opening of the Malady was a craving of cure.
1648. Eikon Bas. Let my craving, O Lord, be accepted of.
1704. J. Logan, in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem., IX. 345. An unjust method of craving and getting.
† b. Craving of the principle (Logic): L. petitio principii or ‘begging the question.’ Obs.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, ix. 122. Is not this a setting downe of that thing for a ground, which … resteth to be prooued, and (to speake after his owne maner) a crauing of the principle?
3. Urgent desire; longing, yearning.
1694. R. L’Estrange, Fables, 189 (J.). A Regular Vicissitude, and Succession of Cravings and Satiety.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., I. § 1. The first care of mankind is to supply the cravings of nature.
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), II. vii. 182. A craving after prophecies … had infected all ranks.
1890. Besant, Demoniac, v. 93. A man liable to attacks of craving for strong drink.
