Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Battery
Let him alone, I’ll go another way to work with him; I’ll have an action of battery against him, if there be any law in Illyria; though I struck him first, yet it’s no matter for that.
Shakespeare.—Twelfth Night, Act IV. Scene 1. (Sir Andrew to Sir Toby.)
Prove this, thou wicked Hannibal, or I’ll have mine action of battery on thee.
Shakespeare.—Measure for Measure, Act II. Scene 1. (Elbow to Escalus.)
Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery?
Shakespeare.—Hamlet, Act V. Scene 1. (Hamlet to Horatio.)