Obs. Forms: 1 líþan, líþian, 3 liðen, 4–7 lythe, 3– lithe. [OE. líð-an, weak vb. f. líðe mild, LITHE a.]
1. trans. To render ‘lithe,’ i.e., gentle or mild; to influence (a person) gently; to relax (fetters); to assuage, mitigate (grief, pain); to relieve, soothe; to render (a limb) supple; to bend, subdue (persons, their passions).
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past., xvii. 124. Ðis is ðearf ðæt se se þe wunde lacnian wille ʓeote win on … & eft ele, ðæt se hie liðe & hæle.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 95. Shereðuresdaies absolucion liðe þe sinne bendes.
13[?]. K. Alis., 2797. The saut com so thikke and swithe, That no weryng ne myghte heom lithe.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 183. Lome mennes limes weore lyþet þat tyme.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 726 (754). He þat wont here wo was for to lyþe, She mot for-gon.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 3754. To lithe vs all if þou limpes na louyng þou gettis.
c. 1430. Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 7721. Hir angre she gan ther to lithe.
1552. Abp. Hamilton, Catech. (1884), 173. The haly spreit … be his grace lythis and turnis our hart to God.
1614. T. Adams, Diuells Banket, vi. 291. England … hath now suppled, lythed, and stretched their throates.
1642. Rogers, Naaman, 313. Giue me also faith, Lord,… to lythe, to forme, and to accommodate my spirit and members.
2. To render ‘lithe’ or thick; to thicken (broth, etc.). Also transf.
1674. Ray, N. C. Words, 30. Lithe the pot, i.e. put Oatmeal into it.
1711. W. Storr, Bk. Rem., in Yorksh. Arch. Jrnl., VII. 58. Lithe it with bean meal as hot as can be bidden.
1808. Bald, Coal-trade of Scot., i. 13. The coalmasters frequently inquired if the sinkers were lything the water, that is, making it of a thick and muddy colour by their operations.
1867. B. Brierley, Marlocks, iii. 69. The old woman was engaged in ‘lithing’ the broth.
