Definition of "soothe"

soothe

/suːð/

verb
third-person singular simple present soothes, present participle soothing, simple past and past participle soothed
1. (transitive) To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
  Quotations
  Muſick has Charms to ſooth a ſavage Breaſt, To ſoften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
  1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], Act I, page 1
  Yet Wayne Rooney scored at a good time, three minutes after the restart, to soothe any gathering nerves and the night can ultimately be chalked off as one of the finest occasions of Hodgson's 17 months in the job.
  2013 October 11, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎
2. (transitive) To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
3. (transitive, rare) To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
4. (transitive) To calm or placate someone or some situation.
5. (transitive) To ease or relieve pain or suffering.
  Quotations
  I am a cider drinker, I drinks it all of the dayI am a cider drinker, it soothes all me troubles away
  1976, The Wurzels, I Am A Cider Drinker
6. (intransitive) To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
7. (intransitive) To bring comfort or relief.
8. (transitive) To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
9. (transitive, obsolete) To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
10. (transitive, obsolete) To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
11. (transitive, obsolete) To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession.
  Quotations
  To be ſhort, a wretched and curſed generation they be; hypocrites, pretending friendſhip, but they can not skill of plaine dealing and franke ſpeech. Rich men they claw, ſooth up and flatter: the poore they contemne and despiſe.
  1603, Plutarch, “Of the Novritvre and Edvcation of Children”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, page 15

Definition of "soothe"

soothe

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations