freshen
To become fresh.
To be refreshed.
He descended and came to a small basin of sea enclosed by the cliffs. Troy’s nature freshened within him; he thought he would rest and bathe here before going farther.
To become cool.
A little later, Harry sensed, by a freshening of the air, that they had reached the edge of the forest.
(of water) To become not salty, to lose its salinity.
(of wind) To become stronger.
All day the breeze held in the same point, and rather freshened than died down; and towards afternoon, a swell began to set in from round the outer Hebrides.
(of a cow) To begin or resume giving milk, especially after calving; to cause to resume giving milk.
To make fresh.
To refresh; to revive; to renew.
I’ve been pegging away at mathematics till my head is in a muddle, and I’m going to freshen my wits by a brisk turn.
New hope freshened his heart.
To make cool.
To make green (vegetation that has become dry).
To remove or cover unpleasant qualities such as staleness, bad odour or taste (in air, breath, water, etc.).
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.
[...] from the earliest time that he could remember, there had lain pleasantly in the end of his nose the various scents of mint—used to freshen the water in the ewers—or of basil, camomile, fennel, hysop and lavender—which he had been taught to strew on the rushy floors [...]
To touch up (makeup); to give (a body part, especially the face) a quick wash.
It was after seven, she was freshening her lipstick and perking up her appearance [...]
[...] I knew that their laughter was real and that their lives were cheerful comedies, interrupted only by costume changes and freshening of make-up.
[He] stepped with terrible suddenness into what proved to be no more than a trickle of freezing water, enough at any rate to freshen his armpits, crotch and feet.
To touch up the paint on (something).
In staging the school’s Christmas play the whole town helped or meddled: older men repaired the platform, assembled the crib; young ones fashioned new innkeepers and freshened the masks with paint.
To give redness to (the face or cheeks of a person with light skin).
It was a breezy sunny day; the air freshened the girl's cheeks, and gracefully dishevelled their ringlets: […]
The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand.
To make less salty; to separate, as water, from saline ingredients.
[...] ordinarily a wizard looks after such small conveniences by way of spells, the very least and commonest kind of spells, and indeed it takes little more magic to freshen seawater and so save the bother of carrying fresh water.
(nautical) To relieve, as a rope, by change of place where friction wears it; or to renew, as the material used to prevent chafing.
To top up (a drink).
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.
(historical) To top up (primer) in a firearm.
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.
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