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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To freshen the way

Freshen \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 salty; as, to freshen water, fish, or flesh.

  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.