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.
Fresh"en (?), v. i. 1. To grow fresh; to lose saltness.