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Freshen

//ˈfɹɛʃən// verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To become fresh.; To be refreshed. intransitive

    "Ah, how my spirit freshens, as I taste That life-restoring breeze!"

  2. 2
    make fresh again wordnet
  3. 3
    To become fresh.; To become cool. intransitive

    "1793, uncredited translator, The Natural History of Birds by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, London: A. Strahan and T. Cadell, Volume 4, “The Titiri, or Pipiri,” p. 468, They breed, says M. Deshayes, in the heats of autumn, and during the freshening air of winter, at St. Domingo …"

  4. 4
    become or make oneself fresh again wordnet
  5. 5
    To become fresh.; To become not salty, to lose its salinity. (of water) intransitive

    "He coasted along the American Continent from the 60th degree of northern latitude, till he fell in with the Gulph of St. Lawrence, which he continued to navigate till he perceived the water to freshen;"

Show 14 more definitions
  1. 6
    make (to feel) fresh wordnet
  2. 7
    To become stronger. intransitive

    "[...] the wind freshen’d, and carryed our Maintop-mast by the board; in which disaster, the man that was lower-most, and least in danger, fell over-board, and was drowned;"

  3. 8
    To begin or resume giving milk, especially after calving; to cause to resume giving milk. intransitive, transitive

    "For Sale—Three registered holstein cows. Due to freshen the first of Jan. February and March. Prices that will sell. Age three and five years. Eugune Gibson, Smyrna."

  4. 9
    To make fresh.; To refresh; to revive; to renew. transitive

    "1657, John Davies (translator), Astrea by Honoré d'Urfé, London: H. Moseley et al., Volume 2, Part 3, Book 1, pp. 122-123, … the good Druid went to seeke out some hearbs by the bank sides, which he knew were good to be applyed unto my wounds, and which would a little freshen and invigorate my spirits;"

  5. 10
    To make fresh.; To make cool. transitive

    "[...] Natal, the glorious green country on the coast, lush, forested, watered, warm in the bitterest winter, in the summer freshened by breezes off the sea or the high mountains that bounded it inland."

  6. 11
    To make fresh.; To make green (vegetation that has become dry). transitive

    "1915, Edward Sorenson, On the Wallaby, Sydney: The Catholic Press, Chapter 11, [The animals] were not valuable enough to be worth the trouble of saving until rain came to fill the holes and freshen the pastures."

  7. 12
    To make fresh.; To remove or cover unpleasant qualities such as staleness, bad odour or taste (in air, breath, water, etc.). transitive

    "Mrs. Meyrick’s house was not noisy: the front parlor looked on the river, and the back on gardens, so that though she was reading aloud to her daughters, the window could be left open to freshen the air of the small double room where a lamp and two candles were burning."

  8. 13
    To make fresh.; To touch up (makeup); to give (a body part, especially the face) a quick wash. transitive

    "It was after seven, she was freshening her lipstick and perking up her appearance [...]"

  9. 14
    To make fresh.; To touch up the paint on (something). transitive

    "I remember feeling disappointed [...] because the great sign of a trumpeter designed by Rooke, the Pre-Raphaelite artist, had been freshened by some inferior hand."

  10. 15
    To give redness to (the face or cheeks of a person with light skin). transitive

    "It was a breezy sunny day; the air freshened the girl's cheeks, and gracefully dishevelled their ringlets: […]"

  11. 16
    To make less salty; to separate, as water, from saline ingredients. transitive

    "to freshen water, fish, or flesh"

  12. 17
    To relieve, as a rope, by change of place where friction wears it; or to renew, as the material used to prevent chafing. transitive

    "to freshen a hawse"

  13. 18
    To top up (a drink). transitive

    "She dried her eyes and blew her nose and picked up her drink. ¶ Cass stared at her helplessly. “Let me freshen it for you,” she said, and took the glass into the kitchen."

  14. 19
    To top up (primer) in a firearm. historical, transitive

    "Freshen the priming of your pistols—the mist of the falls is apt to dampen the brimstone—and stand firm for a close struggle, while I fire on their rush."

Etymology

From fresh + -en.

See also for "freshen"

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