"sling arms" (not in OED2) -- why not before 1824?

[Amy West]

On 4/22/14, 12:02 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

1711   Mil. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) ,   Slings are Leather Thongs, made
fast to both Ends of the Musket, and serving for the Men to hang them
by on their Shoulders.

> B.  The OED.
> B.1  As a verb.
>
> The 1749 quotation perhaps fits under "sling, v.2" sense 3, which already has:
> 1688   R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xix. 153/1   Granadeers haue
> a care. Sling your musketts.
Well, that was a ton of fun to work on,  Joel. Thanks!

I'm really intrigued that we have the verb earlier than the noun.

---Amy West

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