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Webster 1913 Edition


Repine

Re-pine′

(r?-p?n′)
,
Verb.
I.
[Pref.
re-
+
pine
to languish.]
1.
To fail; to wane.
[Obs.]
Reppening courage yields no foot to foe.”
Spenser.
2.
To continue pining; to feel inward discontent which preys on the spirits; to indulge in envy or complaint; to murmur.
But Lachesis thereat gan to
repine
.
Spenser.
What if the head, the eye, or ear
repined

To serve mere engines to the ruling mind?
Pope.

Re-pine′

,
Noun.
Vexation; mortification.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Repine

REPI'NE

,
Verb.
I.
[re and pine.]
1.
To fret one's self; to be discontented; to feel inward discontent which preys on the spirits; with at or against. It is our duty never to repine at the allotments of Providence.
2.
To complain discontentedly; to murmur.
Multitudes repine at the want of that which nothing but idleness hinders them from enjoying.
3.
To envy.

Definition 2024


repine

repine

English

Alternative forms

Verb

repine (third-person singular simple present repines, present participle repining, simple past and past participle repined)

  1. (intransitive, now literary) To regret; to complain. [from 15th century]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.6:
      But many times we complain, repine, and mutter without a cause, we give way to passions we may resist and will not.
    • Alexander Pope
      What if the head, the eye, or ear repined / To serve mere engines to the ruling mind?
    • 1958, John W. Peterson, Night of Miracles:
      no more need men on earth repine
    • 1988, Anthony Burgess, Any Old Iron:
      Beatrix invited me no more to tea but I did not greatly repine.
  2. To fail; to wane.
    • Spenser
      Repining courage yields no foot to foe.

Translations

References