[f. FRESH a.; cf. F. fraîchir (OF. freschir intr. in the 12th c.).]
† 1. trans. To make fresh, a. To refresh, recruit, strengthen; also, to increase. b. To renew, repair. c. Naut. To fresh the hawse: see FRESHEN v. 3. Obs.
a. a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1512.
| He thoughte of thilke water shene | |
| To drinke and fresshe him wel withalle. |
1380. Lay Folks Catech. (Lamb. MS.), 119. Crist wolde þat oure hope were freschyd in hym.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., I. 291. As diuers men han doon to fresshe her fame.
14[?]. Sir Beues (1885), 134/77 (MSS. CM.). The watur him freschyd, þat was colde.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxl. 167. They of Calays were often tymes reconforted and fresshed by stelth.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. CXLVII. iii. [He who] Fresheth the mountaines with such needefull spring.
1635. Quarles, Embl., I. xi. (1718), 45.
| Their flaming nostrils in the western deep, | |
| And ’fresh their tired souls with strength-restoring sleep. |
1890. B. L. Gildersleeve, Ess. & Stud., 190.
| Now stay, my noble Tanhuser, | |
| And fresh your life anon. |
b. c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., I. 726.
| They make | |
| Her water thryes fresshed euery day | |
| And onys in the night, this is no nay. |
1513. Churchw. Acc. St. Mary hill, London (Nichols, 1797), 107. For freshynge the canopy at the high awter.
1606. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. I. Tropheis, 324.
| With spurs and beak, bounding at euery blowe, | |
| With fresh assaults freshing their fury so. |
1635. Quarles, Embl., III. (1857), 268.
| Groans fresh’d with vows and vows made salt with tears, | |
| Unscale his eyes, and scale his conquer’d ears. |
c. 1692. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., I. xvi. 78. Fresh the Hawse.
2. intr. † Of the wind: To become fresh, to begin to blow fresh. Also with up. Occas. of the sea: To become lively, roughen.
1599. Hakluyt, Voy., II. 107. The 16. the winde freshed, and we passed by Mount Carmel.
1656. B. Harris, trans. Parival’s The History of This Iron Age, 282. The wind freshing westwardly, the English bore in … hard among them.
a. 1691. Flavel, Sea-Deliver. (1754), 157. The Wind freshed up, and began to blow a brisk Gale.
1775. E. Wild, Jrnl., in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., Ser. II. II. 267. We were immediately all called upon deck, expecting every moment to be dashed to pieces against the rocks; but the wind freshing we got clear after several tacks, to the great joy of us.
1892. [see ppl. a.].
Hence Freshing vbl. sb., renewal, refreshment; (of a wound) recrudescence; Freshing ppl. a.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, cxxxii. 488. Thou nedyste not fere of any fresshynge nor of more fourtherynge for me.
1591. Spenser, Daphn., 26.
| I walkt abroade to breath the freshing ayre | |
| In open fields, whose flowring pride opprest | |
| With early frosts, had lost their beautie faire. |
1612. T. Taylor, Comm. Titus iii. 7. Abrahams bosome, wherein the Saints receiue freshing.
1613–16. W. Browne, Brit. Past. I. iv.
| Her skill in hearbs might helpe remove | |
| The freshing of a wound which he had got. |
1892. Daily News, 30 Nov., 3/1. He can paint the freshing sea when the tide runs in.
