moisten, v.
(ˈmɔɪs(ə)n)
Also 6–7 moysten.
[f. moist a. + -en5.]
1. trans. To make or render moist, damp, or wet; to wet superficially or moderately. Also absol.
| 1580 [implied in moistened, moistening ppl. adjs.]. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. vi. 34 Ne doe they need with water of the ford..to moysten their roots dry. 1610 Markham Masterp. ii. clxxiii. 483 It looseth and scattereth humors, warmeth and moisteneth. 1611 Bible Job xxi. 24 His breasts are full of milke, and his bones are moistened with marrow. 1626 Bacon Sylva §230 A Pipe a little moistned on the inside..maketh a more solemne Sound, than if the Pipe were dry. a 1680 Charnock Chief of Sinners Obj. Mercy Wks. (1847) 16 Water cannot but moisten, fire cannot but burn. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Apricock, Moisten them [sc. the apricocks] with a Spoonful of Water or Vinegar. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 17 ¶1 By fatal confidence in these fallacious promises [of fine weather]..many curls have been moistened to flaccidity. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 21 Mealed powder moistened with brandy. 1850 O. Winslow Inner Life iii. 88 No tears of repentance have ever moistened the eyes. |
b. In expressions relating to the satisfaction of thirst. to moisten the lips, throat, etc.: to refresh oneself with liquor. to moisten one's clay: see clay n. 4 b. (Cf. moist v. 1 b.)
In quot. 1821 moisten the lips is used = ‘make the mouth water’.
| 1603 Dekker Batchelor's Banq. iii. B 4 b, And halfe a dosen times [they have] moystned their lips with the sweet ioyce of the purpled grape. 1741 tr. D'Argens' Chinese Lett. xl. 313 This same Priest..takes care to moisten his Prayers by drinking every now and then a large Glass of Wine. 1819 Shelley Cyclops 583 Ulysses. If you drink much after a mighty feast, Moistening your thirsty maw, you will sleep well. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Grace before Meat, The savoury soup and messes steaming up the nostrils, and moistening the lips of the guests with desire. 1826 Scott Woodst. v, You have been moistening your own throat to some purpose. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xlviii, Mr. Swiveller..chanced at the moment.. to be moistening his clay, as the phrase goes, rather copiously. 1842 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 37 The generous self-denial of him who passed the cup to his wounded neighbour, without stopping even to moisten his own lips. |
† c. fig. = moist v. 1 c. Obs. rare.
| 1582 [implied in moistened ppl. a. 2]. ? a 1661 Fuller (Webster 1864), It moistened not his executioner's heart with any pity. |
2. intr. To become moist.
| 1859 Tennyson Enid 520 Nor let her..blue eye Moisten, till she had lighted on his wound. 1880 G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 71 The burning eyes of her Indian Bacchus fixed on her till their brightness moistened and flashed. |