Fresh"en (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Freshened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Freshening (?)]
1.
To make fresh; to separate, as water, from saline ingredients; to make less salt; as, to freshen water, fish, or flesh.
<-- "less *salt*" is in original; also, below "to lose saltness" -->
2.
To refresh; to revive.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
3. Naut.
To relieve, as a rope, by change of place where friction wears it; or to renew, as the material used to prevent chafing; as, to freshen a hawse.
Totten.
To freshen ballast Naut., to shift Or restore it. -- To freshen the hawse, to pay out a little more cable, so as to bring the chafe on another part. -- To freshen the way, to increase the speed of a vessel.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
© Webster 1913.
Fresh"en (?), v. i.
1.
To grow fresh; to lose saltness.
2.
To grow brisk or strong; as, the wind freshens.
© Webster 1913.