Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Shrive

Shrive (shrīv), v. t. [imp. Shrived or Shrove; p. p. Shriven or Shrived; p. pr. & vb. n. Shriving.] [OE. shriven, schriven, AS. scrīvan to shrive, to impose penance or punishment; akin to OFries. skrīva to impose punishment; cf. OS. biskrīban to be troubled. Cf. Shrift, Shrovetide.] 1. To hear or receive the confession of; to administer confession and absolution to; — said of a priest as the agent.

That they should shrive their parishioners. Piers Plowman.

Doubtless he shrives this woman, . . . Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech. Shak.

Till my guilty soul be shriven. Longfellow.

2. To confess, and receive absolution; — used reflexively.

Get you to the church and shrive yourself. Beau. & Fl.

Shrive, v. i. To receive confessions, as a priest; to administer confession and absolution. Spenser.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.