fossway (foswa)

One of the great Roman roads in England: so called from the ditch on each side. Also spelled fo e way. The Fo e - way at Leicester. N. and Q., 6th ser., XII. 372. foster1t (fos'ter), n. [ foster , föstor , föster , föstur , nourishment, feeding, rearing, fostering (= Icel. föstr , nursing, = Sw. Dan. foster , fetus, embryo, offspring; cf. D. voedster , nurse), for * födtor , foda , food: see food , fod der1.] 1. Nourishment; care; keeping. Of thare sorow no some [sum, end], bot ay to be yell and In oure fostre. Towncley Mysteries, p. 320. 2. A nursling; a child; progeny; offspring. Hit was the forme - foster that the folde [earth] bred. Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 257. Thu art foster of freo monne. St. Marherete (ed. Cockayne), p. 4. 3. [Rather a contr. of fosterer .] A fosterer or cherisher. Davies. Thu art foster and feder to helple e children. St. Marherete (ed. Cockayne), p. 8. He plays the serpent right, describ'd in Esop's tale, That sought the foster's death, that lately gave him life. Greene and Lodge , Looking Gla for Lond. and Eng., [p. 131.