6 results for: Pliant

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PLHS

PLI

PLI/PPLI

PLI1999

PLIA

Pliability

Pliable

pliableness

pliably

Pliancy

Pliant

pliantly

pliantness

PLIAT

plié

pliés

PLIB

PLIC

plica

plica fimbriata

plica lacrimalis

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pli·ant

Audio Help [plahy-uh

–adjective

1.	bending readily; flexible; supple; adaptable: She manipulated the pliant clay.

2.	easily influenced; yielding to others; compliant: He has a pliant nature.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME < OF, prp. of plier to ply²; see -ant

]

—Related forms

pli·an·cy, pli·ant·ness, noun

pli·ant·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1, 2. pliable, flexile. See flexible. 2. manageable, tractable, docile.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Pliant

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pli·ant Audio Help (plī'ənt) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Easily bent or flexed; pliable. See Synonyms at malleable.
Easily altered or modified to fit conditions; adaptable.
Yielding readily to influence or domination; compliant.

[Middle English, from Old French, present participle of plier, to fold, bend, from Latin plicāre; see plek- in Indo-European roots.]

pli'an·cy, pli'ant·ness n., pli'ant·ly adv.

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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.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
pliant

c.1300, from O.Fr. pliant "bending" (13c.), prp. of plier "to bend" (see ply (n.)). Fig. sense of "easily influenced" is from c.1400. Pliable is first recorded 1483, from O.Fr. pliable "flexible," from plier.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

pliant
adjective
1.	capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of children"; "a pliant nature" [syn: plastic]
2.	capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; "ductile copper"; "malleable metals such as gold"; "they soaked the leather to made it pliable"; "pliant molten glass"; "made of highly tensile steel alloy" [syn: ductile]
3.	able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic clause in a contract" [syn: elastic]
4.	capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking; "a flexible wire"; "a pliant young tree" [syn: bendable]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Pliant

Pli"ant\, a. [F. pliant, p. pr. of plier to bend. See Ply, v.]

1. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking; flexible; pliable; lithe; limber; plastic; as, a pliant thread; pliant wax. Also used figuratively: Easily influenced for good or evil; tractable; as, a pliant heart.

The will was then ductile and pliant to right reason. --South.

2. Favorable to pliancy. [R.] "A pliant hour." --Shak. -- Pli"ant*ly, adv. -- Pli"ant*ness, n.

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