v. Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 1 ǽmetʓian, ǽmtiʓan, ǽmtian, 2 æmtien, 4 emte(n, empte, 9 dial. emp, ent, 6– empt. [OE. ǽmtian (ʓe-ǽmtian), f. ǽmt-a, ǽmetta leisure; cf. EMPTY a. and v.]
† 1. intr. and refl. To be at leisure. Only in OE.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter xlv[i]. 10. Æmetʓiað ant ʓesiað forðon ic eam dryhten.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., xxxiii. 206 (Z.). Æmtiʓað eow to rædinge.
† 2. intr. To become empty. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 30408. Feollen ærm kempes; æmteden sadeles.
3. trans. To make empty; to drain, exhaust. lit. and fig. Const. of. Also refl. = EMPTY v. 2, 3.
1340. Ayenb., 58. Ase þo þet emteþ þe herte of hire guode.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Chan. Yem. Prol. & T., 188. Ther-by shal he nat wynne But empte his purs.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIII. xx. (1495), 450. Abyssus … maye neuer be stoppyd … ne emptyd.
1568. T. Howell, Arb. Amitie (1879), 92. There I empt my laden hart.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Wks., 27/1.
| That though a man in study take great paines, | |
| And empt his veines, puluerize his braines. |
1640. Brome, Antipodes, III. vii. Unlesse I empt My brest of mercy to appease her for you.
1678. Hobbes, Nat. Philos., iii. 27. That the Cylinder may empt itself.
1825. Britton, Beauties Wilts. Gloss., Empt, to pour out, to empty.
1881. I. of Wight Gloss. (E. D. S.), Empt, to make empty.
4. To pour forth, discharge, clear out (the contents of a vessel, etc.).
1606. Warner, Alb. Eng., XIV. To Rdr. Muse, that … Emptedst poore wit poore winde to win.
1623. Cockeram, Extercorate, to empt, or carry out dung.
