Quotable quotes

Some thoughts from the OED and its files on...

a stay of execution...
1904 Daily Chron. 22 Feb., I suppose the bullet must have struck the steels in my corsets.

...under cover of darkness...
1902 New S. Wales Govt. Gaz. 6, All persons bathing in any waters exposed to view from any wharf, street, public place, or dwelling house in the Municipal District of Manly, before the hour of 7.30 in the morning and after the hour of 8 o'clock in the evening, shall be attired in proper bathing costume covering the body from the neck to the knee.

...a solitary diner...
a1470 Malory Morte Darthur, He sate at his soupere alone gnawyng on a lymme of a large man.

...and the benefits of miniaturization?
1878 Design & Work 4, To use the electric light on a bicycle is very easy, if you can arrange to place upon a pillion behind you a large steam engine and boiler and a Gramme machine, the whole weighing only about 3 tons.