The process of renewing the operative force of a judgment which has re- mained dormant or unexecuted for so long a time that execution cannot be issued upon it without new process to reanimate it. See Brier v. Traders’ Nat. Bank, 24 Wash. 695, 64 Pac. 831; Havens v. Sea Shore Land Co., 57 N. J. Eq. 142, 41 Atl. 755. The act of renewing the legal force of a contract or obligation , which had ceased to be sufficient foundation for an action, on account of the running of the statute of limi- tations, by giving a new promise or acknowledgment of it.