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Feeze

//fiːz// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A state of worry or alarm. US, dialectal

    "All this time, they were chattering; but at last I thought, by the sound of their voices, that they must be walking away, and I never was in such a feeze in all my life, in case they should be gone before I could get up the wall ; and when I did get up it, sure enough, gone they was!"

  2. 2
    A rush, impetus, or a violent impact; also, a rub. US, dialectal

    "[…]though you haue fetched your feaze, yet to looke well ere you leape."

  3. 3
    A device for wedging items into a tight space. Scotland, obsolete

    "setting up the most expedient agricolary instruments of wains, carts, slades, with their several devices of wheels and axle-trees, plows and harrows of divers sorts, feezes, winders, pullies, and all other manner of engines fit for easing the toyl and furthering the work;"

Verb
  1. 1
    To drive off or away; to make (someone) run, put to flight; to frighten away; compare faze. dialectal, obsolete, often, transitive

    "Gracious! what a hurly-burly 'twas! How the volks veased [gloss: Hurried, drove] out o' church—higgeldy piggeldy, helter skelter: zich jitting, [gloss: Pushing against each other], driving, and dringing. [gloss: Squeezing]"

  2. 2
    To twist or turn with a screw-like motion; to screw. Scotland, also, dialectal, transitive

    "What pushing and crushing Amang the lads and lasses; What squeezing and feezing Wi' ilka ane that passes"

  3. 3
    Pronunciation spelling of freeze. Scotland, alt-of, dialectal, pronunciation-spelling

    "“How does the snow come;" he asks. “Mama says God makes it snow. Does he keep it up there, and all the rain, too. I s'd t'ink he'd feeze. Mama al'as says, come in Willie, you'll feeze in 'e snow.""

  4. 4
    To beat; to chastise. dialectal, transitive

    "Come, will you quarrel? I will feeze you, sirrah."

  5. 5
    To insinuate. Scotland, broadly, dialectal, figuratively
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  1. 6
    To cause to swing about. dialectal, intransitive, transitive

    "When stormy winter shook the trees, An' drumly dubs began to freeze, An' Christmas times brought bread an' cheese, An' routh o' whisky, Auld Carlo then his tail would feeze Sae keen an' frisky."

  2. 7
    To untwist; to unravel, as the end of a thread or rope. Scotland, dialectal, intransitive, transitive

    "In short, Tibbie made maist praiseworthy efforts to feeze her fingers oot o' my loof as lang as I held them fast."

  3. 8
    To cause to swing about.; To swing about in the wind; to flare (as a candle) dialectal, intransitive, transitive
  4. 9
    To rub hard; to do a piece of work with passion. Scotland, dialectal, figuratively, obsolete, transitive
  5. 10
    To frighten, put into a state of alarm. dialectal, intransitive

    "Not that mothers should neglect children for husband, but that they might be quite as well off with less of your feezing and fussing, and he much the better with more of your affections."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English fese, from the verb (see below).

Etymology 2

From Middle English fesen, from Old English fēsian, fȳsian (“to drive away, put to flight”), variants of fēsan, fȳsan (“to hasten, rush; to incite, stimulate, send forth, drive away”), of disputed origin. Doublet of faze.

Etymology 3

From Scots feeze, from Old Scots fize (“screw”, noun), from Dutch vijs (“screw”), from Middle Dutch vise (“screw, windlass, winch”), from Old French vis, viz (“vise, vice”), from Latin vītis (“vine”). Doublet of vice, vise, and withe.

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