fease

English

Etymology 1

Back-formation from feasance.

Verb

fease (third-person singular simple present feases, present participle feasing, simple past and past participle feased)

  1. (obsolete) to execute (an action, condition, obligation, etc.)

Etymology 2

From Middle English fesen (to drive, incite, put into action; frighten, terrify, prosecute, punish), from Old English fēsan, fȳsan (to hasten, impel), from Proto-Germanic *funsijaną (to make ready).

Alternative forms

Verb

fease (third-person singular simple present feases, present participle feasing, simple past and past participle feased)

  1. (transitive, Britain, dialectal) To drive; drive away; put to flight; dissipate
  2. (transitive, Britain, dialectal) To cause to swing about
  3. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) To swing about (in the wind); to flare (as a candle)
  4. (transitive, Britain, dialectal) To disturb; annoy; inconvenience; fret; worry
  5. (transitive, Britain, dialectal) To beat; chastise; also, to humble; harass
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ainsworth to this entry?)
  6. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) To hurry; pant; run up and down
  7. (transitive, Britain, dialectal) To fetch
  8. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) To untwist; to unravel, as the end of a rope.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

References

  1. Joseph Wright, English Dialect Dictionary (1900)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.