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8 dictionary results for: Ease
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ease 
[eez] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, eased, eas·ing.
[eez] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, eased, eas·ing. –noun
–verb (used with object)
–verb (used without object)
—Verb phrase
—Idiom
| 1. | freedom from labor, pain, or physical annoyance; tranquil rest; comfort: to enjoy one's ease. |
| 2. | freedom from concern, anxiety, or solicitude; a quiet state of mind: to be at ease about one's health. |
| 3. | freedom from difficulty or great effort; facility: It can be done with ease. |
| 4. | freedom from financial need; plenty: a life of ease on a moderate income. |
| 5. | freedom from stiffness, constraint, or formality; unaffectedness: ease of manner; the ease and elegance of her poetry. |
| 6. | to free from anxiety or care: to ease one's mind. |
| 7. | to mitigate, lighten, or lessen: to ease pain. |
| 8. | to release from pressure, tension, or the like. |
| 9. | to move or shift with great care: to ease a car into a narrow parking space. |
| 10. | to render less difficult; facilitate: I'll help if it will ease your job. |
| 11. | to provide (an architectural member) with an easement. |
| 12. | Shipbuilding. to trim (a timber of a wooden hull) so as to fair its surface into the desired form of the hull. |
| 13. | Nautical.
|
| 14. | to abate in severity, pressure, tension, etc. (often fol. by off or up). |
| 15. | to become less painful, burdensome, etc. |
| 16. | to move, shift, or be moved or be shifted with great care. |
| 17. | ease out, to remove from a position of authority, a job, or the like, esp. by methods intended to be tactful: He was eased out as division head to make way for the boss's nephew. |
| 18. | at ease. Military. a position of rest in which soldiers may relax but may not leave their places or talk. |
[Origin: 1175–1225; (n.) ME ese, eise < AF ese, OF aise, eise comfort, convenience < VL *adjace(m), acc. of *adjacés vicinity (cf. ML in aiace in (the) vicinity), the regular outcome of L adjacéns adjacent, taken in VL as a n. of the type nūbés, acc. nūbem cloud; (v.) ME esen < AF e(i)ser, OF aisier, deriv. of the n.]
] —Synonyms 1. repose, contentment, effortlessness. Ease, comfort refer to a sense of relaxation or of well-being. Ease implies a relaxed condition with an absence of effort or pressure: a life of ease. Comfort suggests a sense of well-being, along with ease, which produces a quiet happiness and contentment: comfort in one's old age. 2. tranquillity, serenity, calmness, peace. 5. naturalness, informality. 6. comfort, relieve, disburden; tranquilize, soothe. 7. alleviate, assuage, allay, abate, reduce.
—Antonyms 1. discomfort, effort. 2. disturbance. 5. stiffness, formality, tenseness.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| ease
(ēz) Pronunciation Key
n.
v. eased, eas·ing, eas·es v. tr.
v. intr.
[Middle English ese, from Old French aise, elbowroom, physical comfort, from Vulgar Latin *asium.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ease
ease
c.1225, from O.Fr. aise "comfort, pleasure," of unknown origin, despite attempts to link it to various L. verbs. The earliest senses in Fr. appear to be 1. "elbow-room" (from an 11th century Hebrew-French glossary) and 2. "opportunity." This led Sophus Bugge to suggest an origin in V.L. asa, a shortened form of L. ansa "handle," which could be used in the figurative sense of "opportunity, occasion," as well as being a possible synonym for "elbow," since L. ansatus "furnished with handles" also was used to mean "having the arms akimbo." OED editors report this theory, and write, "This is not very satisfactory, but it does not appear that any equally plausible alternative has yet been proposed." The verb meaning "to give ease" is from 1340; the sense of "to relax one's efforts" is from 1863.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| ease | |
noun | |
| 1. | freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort; "he rose through the ranks with apparent ease"; "they put it into containers for ease of transportation"; "the very easiness of the deed held her back" [ant: difficultness] |
| 2. | a freedom from financial difficulty that promotes a comfortable state; "a life of luxury and ease"; "he had all the material comforts of this world" |
| 3. | the condition of being comfortable or relieved (especially after being relieved of distress); "he enjoyed his relief from responsibility"; "getting it off his conscience gave him some ease" [syn: relief] |
| 4. | freedom from constraint or embarrassment; "I am never at ease with strangers" |
| 5. | freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility); "took his repose by the swimming pool" [syn: rest] |
verb | |
| 1. | move gently or carefully; "He eased himself into the chair" |
| 2. | lessen pain or discomfort; alleviate; "ease the pain in your legs" [syn: comfort] |
| 3. | make easier; "you could facilitate the process by sharing your knowledge" [syn: facilitate] |
| 4. | lessen the intensity of or calm; "The news eased my conscience"; "still the fears" [syn: still] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This
ease
In addition to the idioms beginning with ease, also see at ease; ill at ease. Also see under easily; easy.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This
Ease
General purpose parallel programming language, combining the process constructs of CSP and the distributed data structures of Linda. "Programming with Ease: Semiotic Definition of the Language", S.E. Zenith,
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Ease
Ease\, n. [OE. ese, eise, F. aise; akin to Pr. ais, aise, OIt. asio, It. agio; of uncertain origin; cf. L. ansa handle, occasion, opportunity. Cf. Agio, Disease.]1. Satisfaction; pleasure; hence, accommodation; entertainment. [Obs.] They him besought Of harbor and or ease as for hire penny. --Chaucer. 2. Freedom from anything that pains or troubles; as: (a) Relief from labor or effort; rest; quiet; relaxation; as, ease of body. Usefulness comes by labor, wit by ease. --Herbert. Give yourself ease from the fatigue of watching. --Swift. (b) Freedom from care, solicitude, or anything that annoys or disquiets; tranquillity; peace; comfort; security; as, ease of mind. Among these nations shalt thou find no ease. --Deut. xxviii. 65. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. --Luke xii. 19. (c) Freedom from constraint, formality, difficulty, embarrassment, etc.; facility; liberty; naturalness; -- said of manner, style, etc.; as, ease of style, of behavior, of address. True ease in writing comes from art, not chance. --Pope. Whate'er he did was done with so much ease, In him alone 't was natural to please. --Dryden. At ease, free from pain, trouble, or anxiety. "His soul shall dwell at ease." --Ps. xxv. 12. Chapel of ease. See under Chapel. Ill at ease, not at ease, disquieted; suffering; anxious. To stand at ease (Mil.), to stand in a comfortable attitude in one's place in the ranks. With ease, easily; without much effort. Syn: Rest; quiet; repose; comfortableness; tranquility; facility; easiness; readiness.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Ease
Ease\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Eased; p. pr. & vb. n. Easing.] [OE. esen, eisen, OF. aisier. See Ease, n.]1. To free from anything that pains, disquiets, or oppresses; to relieve from toil or care; to give rest, repose, or tranquility to; -- often with of; as, to ease of pain; ease the body or mind. Eased [from] the putting off These troublesome disguises which we wear. --Milton. Sing, and I 'll ease thy shoulders of thy load. --Dryden. 2. To render less painful or oppressive; to mitigate; to alleviate. My couch shall ease my complaint. --Job vii. 13. 3. To release from pressure or restraint; to move gently; to lift slightly; to shift a little; as, to ease a bar or nut in machinery. 4. To entertain; to furnish with accommodations. [Obs.] --Chaucer. To ease off, To ease away (Naut.), to slacken a rope gradually. To ease a ship (Naut.), to put the helm hard, or regulate the sail, to prevent pitching when closehauled. To ease the helm (Naut.), to put the helm more nearly amidships, to lessen the effect on the ship, or the strain on the wheel rope. --Ham. Nav. Encyc. Syn: To relieve; disburden; quiet; calm; tranquilize; assuage; alleviate; allay; mitigate; appease; pacify.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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