cheer (n.)

cheer (v.)

Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

New Testament: Matthew xiv. 27.

[Tar water] is of a nature so mild and benign and proportioned to the human constitution, as to warm without heating, to cheer but not inebriate.

Bishop Berkeley (1684-1753): Siris. Par. 217.

I burn to set the imprison'd wranglers free,

And give them voice and utterance once again.

Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,

Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,

And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn

Throws up a steamy column, and the cups

That cheer but not inebriate wait on each,

So let us welcome peaceful evening in.

William Cowper (1731-1800): The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 34.

At Christmas play and make good cheer,

For Christmas comes but once a year.

Thomas Tusser (Circa 1515-1580): Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. The Farmer's Daily Diet.

Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Comedy of Errors. Act iii. Sc. 1.