Obs. rare. [f. EARNEST sb.1 or a.] trans. a. To use in earnest. b. To render earnest.
1602. trans. Il Pastor Fido, E j b (N.). Let’s proue among our selues our armes in iest, That when we come to earnest them with men, We may them better vse.
1603. Florio, Montaigne, III. viii. (1632), 519. The study and plodding on bookes, is a languishing and weake kinde of motion, and which heateth or earnesteth nothing.
