1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, ...they were outcasts, paupers, unfriended beings, to whom the most scanty pittance was a matter of favour, and who were treated merely as children of peasants, yet poorer than the poorest, who, dying, had left them, a thankless bequest, to the close-handed charity of the land.
1847, Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights, Yes, yes, he's rich enough to live in a finer house than this: but he's very near—close-handed;
2003, David Daniel, White Rabbit: A Mystery, Close-handed with his own information, he suspected others of holding out, too.
2015, Spurgeon, Charles, Vol. 33 Sermons 1938-2000, In the last place. I am to come to close-handed fighting.
