Definition of "manure"

A woman that wandring in our coaſtes hath bought / A plot for price: where ſhe a citie ſet: / To whom we gaue the ſtrond for to manure.

1557 July 1, Virgil, “The Second Boke of Virgiles Aenæis”, in Henry [Howard, Earl] of Surrey, transl., edited by William Bolland, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aenaeis, Turned into English Meter ([Roxburghe Club Publications; I]), London: […] A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1814

Manure thyself then; to thyself be approved; / And with vain, outward things be no more moved.

1633, John Donne, Epistle to Mr. Rowland Woodward

My Lord of Hereford here whom you call King, / Is a foule traitour to proud Herefords King, / And if you crowne him let me propheſie, / The bloud of Engliſh ſhall manure the ground, / And future ages groane for this foule act, [...]

1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, [Act IV, scene i]

I hate manure!

1985, Biff Tannen (portrayed by Thomas F. Wilson), Back to the Future.

M, they will cover your grave with manure

1988, Dave Mustaine, "Hook in Mouth", Megadeth, So Far, So Good... So What!.

[T]he very wet winter will have washed much of the goodness out of the soil. Homemade compost and the load of manure we get from a friendly farmer may not be enough to compensate for what has leached from the ground.

2014 April 21, Mary Keen, “You can still teach an old gardener new tricks: Even the hardiest of us gardeners occasionally learn useful new techniques ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)‎, page G7

Malt dust consists chiefly of the infant radicle separated from the grain. I have never made any experiment upon this manure; but there is great reason to suppose it must contain saccharine matter; and this will account for its powerful effects.

a. 1813, Sir Humphry Davy, "Lecture VI" in Elements of Agricultural Chemistry (1840 reprint)

“You know the police think I killed Marge, don't you?”“What a load of manure! I couldn't believe it when I read the paper.”

2005, Ginny Aiken, Design on a Crime, page 217