[UP- 4. Cf. MSw. uplypta, -lyfta, etc. (Sw. upplyfta), MDa. oplyfte (Da. opløfte), and UPLIFT(ED pa. pples.]
1. trans. To elevate in rank, honor, estate, or estimation. Also absol. Now rare.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 72. Þe Londreis … Him for þar kyng vplift, his name was kald Edgar.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, etc. 501. Lord makis pore and he makis riche: he mekis and he vpliftis.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 27. Alisaundre put hem under,… So that the Monarchie lefte With Grecs, and here astat uplefte.
1554–9. Songs & Ball. Phil. & Mary (Roxb.), 3. For of balefull branches and fyere brandes of hel To be members of mersye he hathe us up lyfft.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., V. iv. 103. Your low-laide Sonne, our Godhead will vplift.
1860. Pusey, Minor Prophets, 593/1. He uplifts ordinary things, that they too should be sacred.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea, I. p. x. That which will uplift the repute of the far-famed Russian infantry.
† b. To support, assist. Obs.–1
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 55. Þei said he did inouh, þe erle alle vplift, Þe kyng forgaf his wraþe.
c. Sc. To make proud. (Cf. UPLIFTED ppl. a. 3.)
1863. Jean L. Watson, By-gone Days, 176. Though she was sae bonny, that never seemed to uplift her.
d. To elevate morally. (Cf. UPLIFTED ppl. a. 2.)
1883. Fairbairn, Stud. Relig. & Theol. (1910), 94. The regeneration that changes the man and uplifts the life.
1890. J. Pulsford, Loyalty to Christ, I. 53. That He may be able to uplift and bless men.
2. To lift up to a higher level or more erect position; to raise, rear, erect.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, ci. 11. Vpliftand þou downsmate me.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 48. I uplifte Min hefd with that.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 805. Þen Alexander in ane ire his arme vp-liftis.
c. 1440. Ipomydon, 1911. Hys swerd in bothe handis he toke … And hertely he dyd it vplyfte.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, IV. (Arb.), 102. Theese woords, vplifting both his hands, he toe Iuppiter vttred.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. i. 46. The gentle knight her soone with carefull paine Vplifted light, and softly did vphold.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., V. ii. 211. Slaues … shall Vplift vs to the view.
1667. Milton, P. L., VI. 646. They pluckt the seated Hills…, and by the shaggie tops Up lifting bore them in thir hands.
1757. Dyer, Fleece, II. 234. Soon … the huge stone Up-lifting to the deck, [they] unmoor’d the bark.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 274. The glowing hearth … With faint illumination, that uplifts The shadow to the ceiling.
1820. Shelley, Prometh. Unb., I. 159. At thy voice her pining sons uplifted Their prostrate brows.
1846. Hawthorne, Mosses, I. i. 7. The boy uplifted his axe.
1887. Spectator, 7 May, 626/1. Some internal force has uplifted the earth’s crust along a certain line.
fig. 1594. Spenser, Amoretti, lxxxii. I … shall all be spent, in setting your immortall prayses forth. Whose lofty argument vplifting me, shall lift you vp vnto an high degree.
1846. Mangan, Poems (1903), 24. On thy knees Uplift thy soul to God alone.
3. Sc. To collect, levy (rents, etc.); to draw (wages).
1508. Reg. Privy Seal Scot., I. 256/2. The males, proffitis and dewiteis to rais, uplift and inbring.
1553. Reg. Privy Council Scot., I. 139. Under the pane of xl lib., to be upliftit and takin of every Provest.
1617. Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1848), II. 354. Vnder the paines following, to be vplifted of the contravenar as oft as they be … convict.
1646. Z. Boyd, in Zion’s Flowers (1855), App. 31/1. I … give the … Colledge full power to uplift the same.
1710. in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874), 44. Since we have uplifted two thousand of the three thousand merks due to him.
1753. Stewart’s Trial, 250. That Glenure … had employed him to uplift the rents from the other tenants.
1869. Act 32 & 33 Vict., c. 116 § 7. A power … to enter … the lands disponed in security, and uplift the rents thereof.
1895. Crockett, Cleg Kelly, xii. He endeavoured to uplift his week’s wage before it was due.
4. = RAISE v. 13.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, xiii. When he first uplifted the psalm in presence of those persons.
1847. Emerson, Dæmonic & Celest. Love, 26. New flowerets bring, new prayers uplift.
a. 1850. Bryant, Earth, 43. Earth Uplifts a general cry for guilt and wrong.
1887. Bowen, Æneid, VI. 174. All now … uplift their voices in grief.
