(a) A steward; headman of a town or village; also, a royal official; (b) as surname; also in cpds.: bern greive, fen greive [see also plough greive, wode greive].
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(a) A harrow for cultivating land, a drag; gon at harwe, to drive a harrow; (b) fig. the Old or New Testament; the power of Love (with pun on arwe); also, in proverb; (c) harwe tind (toth), a tooth of……
(a) A scaly or scabby disease of the skin, esp. of the head; also, a similar disease in sheep [quot.: Palladius]; (b) the dry slough or scab produced by a caustic medicine, the bursting of a……
(a) Refl. To make confession, make confession (to sb., to God); also iron., with implication of impending decease [quot.: Chaucer TC]; (b) refl.shriven o (of), to confess (sins), make confession of……
(a) To blow one's nose; blow (one's nose); also [1st quot.], with punning ref. to 1st quot. in (b); (b) to snuff (a candle); also, tweak or pull (a person's nose with tongs); sniten oute; (c) hawk. to……
(a) A piece of timber used in building; a rafter, beam; a board; -- also coll.; firre sparre; hilinge of sparres, a roof; joininge of sparres, a roof or building; maister sparre, a main beam or……
(a) A stain left by something on a surface, a blot; also in fig. context; (b) fig. ?contamination or stain resulting from intercourse; (c) a patch or mark in the fur of an animal, on the body of a……
(a) An upright piece of timber used as support in a wall, partition, etc. [quots. ?c1475 and a1500 may belong to sense 4]; stoth nail, nails of some kind used in fastening such timbers; (b) fig. a……
(a) Coll. The dried stalks of grain after threshing, straw; also in fig. context [quot. a1475]; -- also pl.; stubbe strau; (b) a stalk or stem; a piece of straw; in the strau, on the stalk, before……
For all words beginning with sw- from here to the end of this volume [of the print MED], the practice of the MED is to record all variant forms except those beginning with su-; forms with su- are……
(a) Of a candle: to be necessary (for sb.), be needed, avail; (b) impers.hit thare, used parenthetically: it is necessary; (c) ?impers.thurte, he experienced (no lack of knights at his disposal).
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(a) To be confident; also refl.; also, take heart, take courage [quot. c1384, 1st]; trusten in (of, on, to, unto, upon), have confidence in (sb., sth., oneself); rely on (sb. or sth.) for guidance……
(a) A wave of water, esp. in the sea; ?also, a current; gon in wawes, to become tempestuous
(b) pl. the sea, seen as a collection of individual waves;
(c) used metonymically: the sea; water; wau of……
(a) A small circular weight placed on a spindle to serve as a flywheel, a pulley used in the operation of a spinning wheel, a spindle whorl; ?also, a small circular object serving to attach or hold……
In cpds. and combs.: yarn (garn) windel, a wooden reel from which a hank or thread of yarn may be wound into a ball, a yarn-winder; yarn (garn) windel blade, one of the crossed arms of a yarn-winder.
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