freshen

verb freshens · freshening · freshened

1. intransitive To be refreshed. Ah, how my spirit freshens, as I taste That life-restoring breeze!
2. intransitive To become cool. 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 …
3. intransitive To become not salty, to lose its salinity. (of water) 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;
4. intransitive, of wind To become stronger. wind force three, freshening from the southwest
5. intransitive, transitive, of a cow To begin or resume giving milk, especially after calving; to cause to resume giving milk. 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.
6. transitive To refresh; to revive; to renew. 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 spirit
7. transitive To make cool. [...] 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.
8. transitive To make green (vegetation that has become dry). 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.
9. transitive 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.
10. transitive 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 [...]
11. transitive To touch up the paint on (something). 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.
12. transitive 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: […]
13. transitive To make less salty; to separate, as water, from saline ingredients. to freshen water, fish, or flesh
14. transitive To relieve, as a rope, by change of place where friction wears it; or to renew, as the material used to prevent chafing. to freshen a hawse
15. transitive 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.
16. historical, transitive 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.