To freshen the hawse

Freshen \Fresh"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Freshened}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Freshening}]
   1. To make fresh; to separate, as water, from saline
      ingredients; to make less salty; as, to freshen water,
      fish, or flesh.
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   2. To refresh; to revive. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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   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.
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   {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.
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Hawse \Hawse\ (h[add]z or h[add]s; 277), n. [Orig. a hawse hole,
   or hole in the bow of the ship; cf. Icel. hals, h[=a]ls,
   neck, part of the bows of a ship, AS. heals neck. See
   {Collar}, and cf. {Halse} to embrace.]
   1. A hawse hole. --Harris.
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   2. (Naut.)
      (a) The situation of the cables when a vessel is moored
          with two anchors, one on the starboard, the other on
          the port bow.
      (b) The distance ahead to which the cables usually extend;
          as, the ship has a clear or open hawse, or a foul
          hawse; to anchor in our hawse, or athwart hawse.
      (c) That part of a vessel's bow in which are the hawse
          holes for the cables.
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   {Athwart hawse}. See under {Athwart}.

   {Foul hawse}, a hawse in which the cables cross each other,
      or are twisted together.

   {Hawse block}, a block used to stop up a hawse hole at sea;
      -- called also {hawse plug}.

   {Hawse piece}, one of the foremost timbers of a ship, through
      which the hawse hole is cut.

   {Hawse plug}. Same as {Hawse block} (above).

   {To come in at the hawse holes}, to enter the naval service
      at the lowest grade. [Cant]

   {To freshen the hawse}, to veer out a little more cable and
      bring the chafe and strain on another part.
      [1913 Webster] hawsehole