freshening

Verb

freshen (third-person singular simple present freshens, present participle freshening, simple past and past participle freshened)

1. (intransitive) To be refreshed.
   • Ah, how my spirit freshens, as I taste
     That life-restoring breeze!1799, Samuel Jackson Pratt, Gleanings in England, London: T.N. Longman and O. Rees, Volume 4, Letter 3, p. 39
2. (intransitive) To become cool.
   • They breed, says M. Deshayes, in the heats of autumn, and during the freshening air of winter, at St. Domingo …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
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;1785, John Rickman, Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage, to the Pacific Ocean, London: E. Newbery, Introduction, pp. xxx-xxxi
4. (intransitive) To become stronger.
   • wind force three, freshening from the southwest
5. (intransitive, transitive) 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.1919 January, in The Chenango County Farm Bureau News, volume 5, number 1, page 7
6. (transitive) To refresh; to revive; to renew.
   • … 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;1657, John Davies (translator), Astrea by Honoré d'Urfé, London: H. Moseley et al., Volume 2, Part 3, Book 1, pp. 122-123

See all 16 meanings of freshen