▪ I. redress, n.
(rɪˈdrɛs)
Also 4–7 redresse, 5–6 Sc. redres.
[a. AF. redresse, -dresce (14th c.), f. redresser to redress.]
1. Reparation of, satisfaction or compensation for, a wrong sustained or the loss resulting from this.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 198 The King send oft till ask redress, Bot nocht thar-of redress ther wes. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2051 Redresse for þe dethe of his dere fader. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 190 He salbe for hir part herd in jugement, and have redress and reformacioun of lawe for hir. 1567 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 578 To seik redres be the ordinar magistrattis. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 118 But for these foolish Officers, I beseech you, I may haue redresse against them. 1654 Bramhall Just Vind. iv. (1661) 75 If the Archbishop failed to do justice, the last complaint must be to the King to give order for redress. 1741 Butler Serm. Ho. Lords Wks. 1874 II. 266 Whilst redress is delayed,..wrong subsists. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 822 God..would else..endure Dishonour, and be wronged without redress. 1819 Shelley Cenci iii. i. 194 Think not But that there is redress where there is wrong, So we be bold enough to seize it. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 119 He who gives credit, and is cheated, will have no redress. |
† b. Possibility or means of redress; appeal against a decision. Obs. rare.
| 1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 408 Thereof notice to be made to the Bailies,..[and] they to reforme w{supt} out accion or redresse suche maters. 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. II. 406 The king was empowered to issue a proclamation to destroy the lives, or take away the properties, of any of his subjects; and the only redress was to himself in council. |
† 2. Remedy for, or relief from, some trouble; assistance, aid, help. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 162 The grounde and cause of al my peyn..I wol reherse; not for to haue redresse, But to declare my grounde of heuynesse. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xviii. 21 They trusted than to fynde some redresse for themselfe and for their horses. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxvii. i, To nightly anguish thrall, From thee I sought redresse. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. iv. 41 He..ranne to his redresse. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. vi. §4 (1622) 255 There is no sicknesse, but it hath his redresse. 1671 Milton Samson 619 My griefs..finding no redress, ferment and rage. 1759 Goldsm. Bee No. 3 ¶2 He who best knows how to conceal his necessity and desires is the most likely person to find redress. |
† b. Correction, amendment, or reformation of something wrong. Obs.
| 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2443 Full many thynges there be that lacketh redresse. 1595 Daniel Civ. Wars ii. xliii, So that there were some orderly redresse In those disorders. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 121 Too long have we driven off the applying of our redress. 1764 Museum Rust. III. 286 The pernicious effects, to farmers, of this abominable practice, are notorious, and cry aloud for redress. |
† c. In phr. beyond redress, past redress, without redress: beyond the possibility of remedy, aid, or amendment. Obs.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 171 Things past redresse, are now with me past care. 1697 Dryden æneid v. 771 As the Cretan Labyrinth of old,..Involv'd the weary feet, without redress. 1700 J. Jackson in Pepys' Diary (1879) VI. 232 And were immediately smothered without redress. 1764 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772) II. 189 Damaged their transports beyond redress. |
† 3. a. With a and pl. A means or way of redress; an act or arrangement whereby a person or thing is redressed; an amendment, improvement. Obs.
| 1472–5 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 163/1 That the Lordes..have full auctorite, to discusse and set theryn a redresse after their discretions. 1544 Supplic. to Hen. VIII (E.E.T.S.) 57 Grant..that he wyll ernestly go a boute to se a redresse a monge them. 1547 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 77 Redressis suld be maid of all dampnaiges. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 150 So the father..causeth a redresse and amendement in his childe. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. (1851) 194 (Deut. xxiv. 1, 2), The guiltles therfore wert not depriv'd thir needful redresses. 1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 33 The sick Man just expiring for want of a speedy Redress by..proper Remedies. |
† b. One who, or that which, affords redress.
| c 1530 Crt. of Love 591 They seid: Venus, redresse of all division, Goddes eterne [etc.]. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 650/1 Is not the swoord the most violent redress that may be used for any evill? 1697 Dryden æneid i. 838 Fair majesty, the refuge and redress Of those whom fate pursues and wants oppress. |
4. Const. of. The act of redressing; correction or amendment of a thing, state, etc.
| 1538 Starkey England ii. i. 156 To theyr cure schal be commyttyd the redresse of many grete dyseasys in thys polytyke body. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 30 For the redresse of many casualties chancing in the night. 1643 Ord. Parlt. regul. Print. in Milton's Areop. (Arb.) 26 The bill in preparation, for redresse of the said disorders. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 12 ¶16 There might be some Hopes of Redress of these Grievances. 1819 Shelley Cenci iv. iv. 121 Arming familiar things To the redress of an unwonted crime. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §5. 138 The great principle that redress of wrongs precedes a grant to the Crown. |
▪ II. redress, v.1
(rɪˈdrɛs)
Also 4 redresce, 4–7 redresse, 5–6 Sc. redres, (5 ra-).
[ad. F. redresser, OF. redrecier, -drechier, etc. = Sp. redere{cced}ar, It. ridirizzare: see re- and dress v.]
† 1. trans. To set (a person or thing) upright again; to raise again to an erect position. Also fig. to set up again, restore, re-establish. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. ii. 89 (Camb. MS.), As thise leches ben wont to hopyn of sike folk, whan they aperceyuen þat nature is redressed [L. erectæ] and withstondith to the maledie. 1481 Caxton Godfrey cxcviii. 289 Incontinent he redressyd and reysed on heygthe his baner alle blody. c 1500 Melusine 290 [They] supposed wel to haue redressed thadmyrall vpon his hors but it was for nought, For he was deed. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iv. 34 The Catholique Romishe Religion shall bee redressed..in the Cities and places..where it is banished. 1643 Prynne Popish R. Favourite 46 He caused the Image of the Crosse to be redressed, and that men should not foule it under their feete. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 107 Cut through all the Collateral Roots, till..you can inforce him upon one side, so as to come..at the Tap-Root; cut that off, redress your Tree, and so let it stand. [Copied in Mortimer's Husb. (1721) II. 69, and other works.] 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 133 Some ambitious Architect..being call'd perhaps to prop a Roof, redress a leaning Wall [etc.]. |
† b. refl. To raise (oneself) again; to reassume an upright posture. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 920 (969) Right as floures..stoupen in hire stalk lowe, Redressen hem a-yen þe sonne bryght. c 1450 Merlin 328 As soone as the spere was spente the kynge Boors redressed hym in his sadell. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Redressing, Trees and other plants have a natural faculty of redressing themselves, when, by any external cause, they are forced out of the perpendicular. |
† c. intr. To rise, become erect. Obs.
| 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xiii. xv, Thou oughtest not to despyse me, Galathee, thoughe my heere redresse a lytyl & brustle. 1584 Hudson Du Bartas' Judith ii. in Sylvester's Du Bartas (1621) 700 Yet like the valiant Palme they did sustaine Their peisant weight, redressing vp againe. |
† 2. To set up, erect, build. Obs. rare—1.
| 1481 Caxton Godfrey clxxix. 264 The other that were nyghe the corner..redressyd a castel of tree moche hye. |
† b. ? To spread out. Obs. rare—1.
| c 1450 Lonelich Grail xli. 276 Thanne Josephes bothe Schirte and water gan blesse, And Anon God gan it for to Redresse, and wax moche largere hem vntylle. |
† 3. To put right again, repair, mend (a house or wall). Obs.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. lxv, How the kyng Aurilambros let amend and redresse the hous of Amlesbury. c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 47 Disposinge himselfe to the beutifienge of the cittee of London, [he] redressed the walles,..beinge ruinus throughe yeares, strengtheninge the same with divers turrets. |
† 4. fig. To bring back (a person) to the right course; to correct or direct aright. Obs.
| c 1366 Chaucer A.B.C. 129 Redresse me mooder and me chastise. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3423, I wole swere for evermo To be redressid at youre likyng, If I trespasse in ony thyng. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 358 An Emperoure..Whom no mannes counsel might redres. 1573 L. Lloyd Marrow of Hist. (1653) 263 Anger out not to be in any Prince..toward his equal, for he might be redressed with power. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 174 You..Would see your Towne..By selfe-same censures to be soone redrest. 1689 Popple tr. Locke's 1st Let. Toleration L.'s Wks. 1727 II. 235 In teaching, instructing, and redressing the Erroneous by Reason. |
† b. Hunting. To bring back (the hounds or deer) to the proper course. Obs.
| c 1400 Master of Game Prol. (MS. Digby 182), He hath ynogh at done..to loke wherafter he hunteth..and redresse and bryng his houndes into right whann thei haue envoised or fallen in to rascall. 1659 Howell Vocab. iii, To redresse the deer, or putt her off her changes;..redresser le cerf. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To redress a Stag, (a Term in Hunting) to put him off his changes. |
† c. To direct or amend (one's acts or ways). Obs.
| 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 158 To the Offyce of Prudencia appendyth the dedis of all othyr vertues redresse. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Ps. cxix. 9 Wherewith shal a yong man redresse his waie? ― Jer. vii. 7 If you amend and redresse your waies and your workes. [Hence in 16–17th c. writers, down to c 1635.] |
† 5. To direct or address (a thing) to a destination or in a specified course. Also refl. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶965 Preyeres is for to seyn a pitous wyl of herte that redresseth it in god. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 177 So were it good to taken hiede That ferst a king his oghne dede Betwen the vertu and the vice Redresce. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lii. 230 (Harl. MS.), This hope owithe to be Redressid vnto god. 1461 Rolls of Parlt. V. 484/1 That the same Duches have..such Writtes and Warantes.., directed or redressed to the seid Custumers. |
† b. intr. and refl. To address oneself to a person or place. Obs. rare.
| c 1460 Play Sacram. 607 All manar off men y{supt} haue any syknes To master brentberecly loke y{supt} yow redresse. c 1598 Rollock Passion vi. (1616) 58 A man that redresses himselfe to a kingdome, would euer take delite to speake of it. |
† c. To guide or lead (a person) to oneself. Obs.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 113 b, She dide do make fires and a light..for to redresse Iason and Argos to herward. |
† 6. To put (things) in order; to arrange. Obs.
| 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. v. 60 Lete the Iugement be yeuen as ryght wylle rewarden and soo may fynal pees be redressyd bitwene bothe partes. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 253 The Romanes didde redresse and redacte these lawes of Salon in to x tables. c 1500 For to serve a Lord in Babees Bk. 371 Thenne the kerver shall goo unto the cuppebord, and redresse and ordeyn wafers in to towayles. c 1500 Doctr. Gd. Servaunts (Percy Soc.) 6 Erly in the mornynge se ye ryse, Your werke and laboure to redresse. c 1585 R. Browne Answ. Cartwright 15 They redresse and order matters by money, Brybes, Fees, Ciuill penaltyes. |
† b. To bring back to the proper order; to shift to the proper place. Obs. rare.
| c 1500 Melusine 193 The two bretheren..went fro bataill to batayll and there as fawte was of ordynaunce, they redressed theire peple to it. 1588 J. Mellis Briefe Instr. G j, If any parcell were put by error in any other parcell there as it should not bee, and that you would redresse it vnto the proper place there it ought to be set. |
† c. To make conformable to something. Obs.
| 1538 Starkey England ii. ii. 182 Thys conseyl schold euer be occasyon to redresse the affectys of the prynce to the ordur of the law. |
7. † a. To restore or bring back (a thing or person) to a proper state; to put right, or in good order, again; to mend, repair. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 709 Another Theban mayden..ffor oon of Macidonye hadde hire oppressed She with hire deeth hir maydenhede redressed. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 241 Goynge afor mette dryuth away the ventositeis, redressith the body. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 206/2 In lystris was a contracte which he losed and redressid. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 36 Sad Aesculapius far apart Emprisond was..For that Hyppolytus rent corse he did redresse. 1630 Wadsworth Pilgr. ii. 7 The ship redrest as well as time and place could afford, we still made forward. |
† b. To put (a matter, or state of things) right again; to reform, amend, improve. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 375 Whan that the cas required it, The commune profit koude she redresse. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 20 Alle thynges may be redresshed and reformed, saue euil dedis. c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 135 The estate of relligion and orders of priesthoode were newlie sifted and redressed. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 182 b, That they redresse and pourge their churches. 1648 Milton Ps. lxxxii. 26 Rise God, judge thou the earth in might, This wicked earth redress. 1716 Pope Iliad vi. 91 Now had..frighted Troy within her Walls retir'd; Had not sage Helenus her State redrest. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 176 E'en here content can spread a charm, Redress the clime, and all its rage disarm. |
c. To correct, emend. rare.
| 1710 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. iii. ii. 325 Nor am I out of my own Possession, whilst there is a Person left within; who has Power to dispute the Appearances, and redress the Imagination. 1796 Hamilton in Washington's Writ. (1892) XIII. 190 note, You mentioned to me your wish, that I should redress a certain paper, which you had prepared. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. iv. 73 The material estimate of worth should be redressed by a moral standard. |
d. To adjust again. (Chiefly with balance.)
| 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 213 [He] sees aloft the red right arm Redress the eternal scales. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 44 Unless the balance had been redressed by a great transfer of power from the crown to the parliament. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §5. 197 At an earlier time the personal greatness of Edward might have redressed the balance. |
† 8. To restore (a person) to happiness or prosperity; to save, deliver from misery, death, etc. Obs.
| a 1425 Cursor M. 22737 (Trin.) Whenne he coom furst vs to redresse He coom al wiþ mekenesse. 14.. Hymn Virg. 25 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 82 Redres mans sowle from alle mysery. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour G vj, Saint Eustace..lost goodes and children for the space of xiii yere and then god redressed hym ageyne. 1535 Goodly Prymer (1834) 132 Wash me O Lord, in his blood,..redress me in his resurrection. a 1550 in Dunbar's Wks. (S.T.S.) 324 The hevynnis King is cled in our nature, Ws fro the deth with ransoun for to redress. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. cxc. 1183 So as hee may..not onely forgiue vs all our sinnes,..but also rid vs cleane of them, and redresse vs. |
9. To set (a person) right, by obtaining, or (more rarely) giving, satisfaction or compensation for the wrong or loss sustained.
| c 1430 Chev. Assigne 204 Go brynge hym to his fader courte... Ryȝte by þe mydday to redresse his moder. 1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 368 That thai suld redres all Scottismen offendit be thame. 1650 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. 109 They came..to be redressed by him for divers grievances. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. i. 59 'Tis thine, O King, the afflicted to redress. 1753 Foote Englishm. in Paris ii. Wks. 1799 I. 55, I indeed have wrong'd, but will redress you. 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 491 If our gracious sovereign does not order us to be redressed in fifty-four hours, such steps will be taken, as will astonish our dear countrymen. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. i. ii. 339 You..will redress Him, whom the laws of discipline and Venice Permit not to protect himself. 1863 S. L. J. Life in South I. xix. 375 How am I to be redressed for the loss of my property? |
| refl. 1860 L. V. Harcourt Diaries G. Rose I. 168 The time had..arrived for the people to redress themselves. |
10. To remedy or remove (trouble or distress of any kind).
| c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 192 Who may me helpe, who may my harm redresse. c 1375 Canticum de Creatione 953 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 136 God shel come..And shel redressen mannes nede In riȝt and in leute. c 1410 Hoccleve Mother of God 41 Swich an advocatrice who can dyvyne..our grieves to redresse. c 1500 Lancelot 1359 For thyne estat is gewyne to Redress Thar ned. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 106, I can neither remember our miseries without griefe, nor redresse our mishaps without grones. 1617 Fletcher Valent. ii. iii, Their duty And ready service shall redress their needs. 1714 Spect. No. 611 ¶2, I flatter my self, you will..if possible, redress a Misfortune my self and several others of my Sex lie under. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 214 Every want that stimulates the breast Becomes a source of pleasure when redrest. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Eloquence Wks. (Bohn) III. 25 There is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress. |
b. To cure, heal, relieve (a disease, wound, etc.). Also in fig. context.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur xii. xii, Syr Tristram now be we mette for or we departe we wille redresse our old sores. a 1529 Skelton Knowl., acquaint., etc. 8 Allectuary arrectyd to redres These feuerous axys, the dedely wo and payne [etc.]. a 1542 Wyatt in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 45 The frosty snowes may not redresse my heat. 1601 Daniel Civ. Wars vii. lxxii, Or, whether 'tis not time we should have rest And this confusion, and our wounds redrest. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 383 Which may be to thee instead of..eyesalve to redresse thy blindnesse. a 1687 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Poems (1775) 143 Such carbuncles..As no Hungarian water can redress. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 521 The frenzy of the brain may be redressed By medicine well applied. 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 160/2 This is a species of fracture..which can..be readily redressed. |
† c. To remove, take away (a disability). Obs.
| 1560 J. Daus Sleidane's Comm. 290 To pardon his fault, to redresse the outlawery dew for his offence. |
† d. To put away, get over (sorrow). Obs.
| 1583 Green Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 240 Mamilia had by the space of a weeke..something redressed her sorrow. |
11. To set right, repair, rectify (something suffered or complained of): a. a wrong.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 959 (1008) Þer-with mene I fynally the peyne,..Fully to slen and euery wrong redresse. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 158 To hym longyth nedes to Esplete,..wronges to redresse. c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 224 It slakis ire off wrang thai suld radres. 1551 Crowley Pleas. & Pain 308, I woulde se all theyr wrongis redreste. 1660 Waller To the King on his return 62 Armies and fleets..Owned their great Sovereign, and redressed his wrong. 1749 Smollett Regicide iii. viii, The sword of Athol Was never drawn but to redress the wrongs His country suffer'd. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 795 A heart To feel, and courage to redress her wrongs. 1862 Shirley (J. Skelton) Nugæ Crit. x. 444 The wrong indeed was redressed, as far as redress was possible. |
| absol. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 47 Speake, strike, redresse. Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake. |
b. damage, injury, etc.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 4917 [To] redresse vs the domage, þat he don has. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. v. 126 Those bitter Iniuries..I doubt not, but with Honor to redresse. 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 16 He hoped the King of England would redresse some iniuries done to subiectes of this state by some of his. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. xiii. 209 It rested with Austria to prevent or redress the threatened outrage. 1878 Princess Alice Mem. (1884) 367 The Opposition seems to me..to have done her a greater harm than can ever be redressed. |
c. a grievance or complaint.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 170 This containes our generall Grieuances: Each several Article herein redress'd [etc.]. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 8. 52, [I] bring a Complaint before you, which it is your Province to redress. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxxvi. 293 Some persons..believed that it would be safer to prevent than to redress grievances. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xxi, At present it was not understood that he had redressed any grievances. |
12. To correct, amend, reform or do away with (a bad or faulty state of things, now esp. an abuse).
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 696 They wolde han writen of men more wikkednesse Than all the mark of Adam may redresse. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 268 To redresce At hom the grete unrihtwisnesse. 1449 Rolls of Parlt. V. 149/2 To redresse the defaultes of the said maire and constables. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 71 The general fautys and mysordurys.., wych by commyn counseyle and gud pollycy may be redressyd. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 130 Our detestable cursings..which very few magistrates..go about to redresse. 1634 H. R. Salerne's Regim. 33 For such Wines redresse and amend the coldnesse of Complexion. 1675 Marvell Let. to Mayor of Hull Wks. 1872–5 I. 258 The Atheism, Profanenesse, and Impiety among the people were one point to be redressed. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 446 ¶4 That the Lewdness of our Theatre should be..so well exposed, and so little redressed. 1781 Cowper Table T. 632 Ever anxious to redress The abuses of her sacred charge. 1835 I. Taylor Spir. Despot. ii. 77 Spiritual despotism is necessarily redressed or excluded when theology is reformed. 1874 Green Short Hist. v. §5. 254 In a vigorous campaign he pacified Ireland while redressing the abuses of its government. |
† b. To settle (discord or debate). Obs.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 191 Ȝif þere fil ony discord bytwene the tweyn, þe þridde schulde redresse it. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 4 [If] eny debat chaunselich falle.., þe same maistres and breþeren shul do her diligence trewly to redresse it. |
† c. To repair the want of. Obs. rare—1.
| 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 437 The consent of the mother or guardians, if unreasonably withheld, might be redressed and supplied by the judge. |
† 13. To repair (an action); to atone for (a misdeed or offence). Obs.
| c 1325 Know Thyself 56 in E.E.P. (1862) 131 Who-so greueþ hym is worþi to go To helle fuyr but he hit redres. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 241, I am al redy to redresce The gilt of which I me confesse. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3302 And eke thee caste, If that thou maist, to gete thee defence For to redresse thi first offence. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxii. §18 Vnlawful vsurpation a penitent affection must redresse. |
† 14. Sc. a. To restore, give back. Obs. rare.
| 1533 Bellenden Livy ii. ii. (S.T.S.) I. 134 Gif þe gudis of tarquinis war nocht redressit [L. reddita]. 1536 ― Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 328 The nobillis of Ingland..causit all the saidis guddis to be redressit. |
† b. To make good (a bill). Obs.
| 1565 [see redressing vbl. n.1]. 1573 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 307 He wilbe compellit to answer and redresse the said bill. |
† 15. ? To win or take by force. Obs. rare—1.
| 1592 Warner Alb. Eng. vii. xxxvi. 153 The Cleonæan Lyons spoyles for her I would redresse. I would the Lernan Hydras heads with sword and fire suppress. |
Hence reˈdressed ppl. a.1, reˈdressing ppl. a.
| 1845–6 De Quincey Shelley Wks. 1857 VI. 3 note, The boyish period in which these redressing corrections occurred to me. 1893 Sloane Stand. Electr. Dict. 164 Current, Rectified... Synonym—Redressed Current. |
▪ III. redress, v.2
(riːˈdrɛs)
Also re-dress.
[re- 5 a.]
To dress again, in senses of the vb.
| 1739 G. Ogle Gualtherus & Griselda 88 Griselda may redress her, or retire. 1834 Fraser's Mag. IX. 609 Yet was Chaucer to him a poet whom he might re-dress with advantage. 1847 Singer Wayland Smith p. xxxix, The maidens, not being able to re-dress themselves, utter loud cries of terror. 1859 Six Yrs. Trav. Russia II. v. 67 It appears that the Russians re-dress all furs that they import. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 560 But I..shut up the doors and windows..while I am dressing, or rather redressing. |
Hence reˈdressed ppl. a.2
| 1872 City Press 6 Apr., The Engineers had reported that this street could be repaved with re-dressed stone. |