Forms: 3 febli-en, (febly), fleble, 4–5 febil(l, (5 -yl), 4–6 feble, (5 febel, febl-yn), 6 feable(n, 6–7, 9 feeble. [f. the adj.; OF. had foiblir (flebir), and foibloier (feibloier).]
† 1. intr. To become or grow feeble. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 368. Leste hore licome feblie to swuðe.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7785. King willam … bigan to febli vaste.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, II. 384. On thaim! On thaim! thai feble fast!
1496. Dives & Paup. (W. de W.), I. viii. 39/1. In token yt they ben endlesse & elden not, ne feble not.
† 2. trans. To make feeble; to enfeeble, weaken. Obs. exc. arch.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xvii. 40. Þai ere noght febild my steppis.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 408. Þei shulde not feble þes rewmes.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., II. vi. 175. Thou infirmyst and feblist bi a greet deel the euydencis.
1450–1530. Myrr. our Ladye, p. xlix. Then the deuyll appered vnto hir and sayd woman what menest thou with thy great wepynge so to feble thy syght.
1546. Phaer, Bk. Childr. (1553), S v a. When a child neseth out of measure … the brayn and vertues animal be febled.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. viii. 23. And her [a castle’s] foundation forst, and feebled quight.
1614. Markham, Cheap Husb., II. xxxix. (1668), 83. A Shrew Mouse … if it only run over a Beast, it feebleth his hinder parts.
1646. E. F[isher], Mod. Divinity, i. (1752), 27. His Understanding was both feebled and drowned in darkness.
1831. The Mirror, XVII., 5 March, 162/1.
| But faint it comes, for every blow | |
| Is feebled with the touch of woe. |
Hence Feebled ppl. a.; Feebling vbl. sb. and ppl. a.
1566. Gascoigne & Kinwelmarsh, Jocasta, V. ii.
| Then with hir feebled armes, she doth enfolde | |
| Their bodies both. |
1597. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 226. My feiblit eyis grew dim.
1621. Fletcher, Wild-Goose Chase, I. iii. ’Tis true, you’re old and feebled.
1633. W. Struther, True Happines, 128. It is good that the body finde sometimes this feebling by the vigorous worke of the spirit, because the vigour of the body, often feebleth the spirit.
1624. Trag. Nero, III. vi., in Bullen, O. Pl., I. 59.
| Peoples love | |
| Could not but by these feebling ills be mov’d. |
1632. Lithgow, Trav., X. 461. Least by an impatient Minde, and feebling Spirit, I become my owne Murtherer.
