An archaic or dialectal term meaning to freeze or congeal; to become stiff or rigid.
From Middle English 'ablesen,' possibly from 'a-' (prefix) + 'blese' or related to Old English roots. A rare and obsolete term found mainly in historical texts.
This obscure word shows up in Middle English manuscripts but was already dying out by Shakespeare's time—it's a ghost word haunting etymological dictionaries.
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