[f. LARGE a. Cf. OF. largir and (with sense 3) F. larguer.]
† 1. trans. To enlarge, increase, widen. Obs.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter cxlii[i]. 6. I largid my willys and my werkis. Ibid., Cant. 499. Largid is my mouth abouen my enmys.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. II. 248. For his propre or pryvy avauntage shulde not man lette to large þis love. Ibid. (1382), 1 Chron. xviii. 3. Whanne he wente for to largen his empyre vnto the flode of Eufraten.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 288/1. Largyn, or make large, amplio, amplifico.
1647. H. More, Song of Soul, II. i. I. viii. To large their spirit By vaster cups of Bacchus.
† b. intr. ? To increase (in something).
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 341. Þus we largen in sacramentis, for iche good sensible dede þat we don, or þat springith of mannes charite, may be called a sacrament.
† 2. intr. To get or keep away from or wide (of).
1506. Guylforde, Pilgr. (Camden), 60. With mervayllous dyffycultie we larged frome the shore.
3. Naut. Of the wind: To become ‘large.’
1622. R. Hawkins, Voy. S. Sea (1847), 116. Thwart Cape Froward, the wind larged with us.
1633. T. James, Voy., 18. The winde larged, and wee stowed away S. S. W.
1890. Hall Caine, Bondman, xxiv. III. 4. Suddenly the wind larged again.
