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ease  (ēz)
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Tweet n. 1. The condition of being comfortable or relieved. 2. a. Freedom from pain, worry, or agitation: Her mind was at ease knowing that the children were safe. b. Freedom from constraint or embarrassment; naturalness. 3. a. Freedom from difficulty, hardship, or effort: rose through the ranks with apparent ease. b. Readiness or dexterity in performance; facility: a pianist who played the sonata with ease. 4. Freedom from financial difficulty; affluence: a life of luxury and ease. 5. A state of rest, relaxation, or leisure: He took his ease by the pond. v. eased, eas·ing, eas·es v.tr. 1. To free from pain, worry, or agitation: eased his conscience by returning the stolen money. 2. a. To lessen the discomfort or pain of: shifted position to ease her back. b. To alleviate; assuage: prescribed a drug to ease the pain. 3. To give respite from: eased the staff's burden by hiring more people. 4. To slacken the strain, pressure, or tension of; loosen: ease off a cable. 5. To reduce the difficulty or trouble of: eased the entrance requirements. 6. To move or maneuver slowly and carefully: eased the car into a narrow space; eased the director out of office. v.intr. Idiom: 1. To lessen, as in discomfort, pressure, or stress: pain that never eased. 2. To move or proceed with little effort: eased through life doing as little as possible. at ease 1. In a relaxed position, especially standing silently at rest with the right foot stationary: put the soldiers at ease while waiting for inspection. 2. Used as a command for troops to assume a relaxed position. [Middle English ese, from Old French aise, elbowroom, physical comfort, from Vulgar Latin *adiacēs, adiac-*adiac-, alteration of Latin adiacēns, adiacent-, present participle of adiacēre, to lie near; see ADJACENT.] |
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