ease

[eez] /iz/
noun
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.
verb (used with object), eased, easing.
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.
  1. to bring (the helm or rudder of a vessel) slowly amidships.
  2. to bring the head of (a vessel) into the wind.
  3. to slacken or lessen the hold upon (a rope).
  4. to lessen the hold of (the brake of a windlass).
verb (used without object), eased, easing.
14.
to abate in severity, pressure, tension, etc. (often followed by off or up).
15.
to become less painful, burdensome, etc.
16.
to move, shift, or be moved or be shifted with great care.
Verb phrases
17.
ease out, to remove from a position of authority, a job, or the like, especially by methods intended to be tactful:
He was eased out as division head to make way for the boss's nephew.
Idioms
18.
at ease, Military. a position of rest in which soldiers may relax but may not leave their places or talk.
Origin
1175-1225; (noun) Middle English ese, eise < Anglo-French ese, Old French aise, eise comfort, convenience < Vulgar Latin *adjace(m), accusative of *adjacēs vicinity (compare Medieval Latin in aiace in (the) vicinity), the regular outcome of Latin adjacēns adjacent, taken in VL as a noun of the type nūbēs, accusative nūbem cloud; (v.) Middle English esen < Anglo-French e(i)ser, Old French aisier, derivative of the noun
Related forms
self-ease, noun
self-easing, adjective
well-eased, adjective
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.
British Dictionary definitions for ease off

ease

/iːz/
noun
1.
freedom from discomfort, worry, or anxiety
2.
lack of difficulty, labour, or awkwardness; facility
3.
rest, leisure, or relaxation
4.
freedom from poverty or financial embarrassment; affluence: a life of ease
5.
lack of restraint, embarrassment, or stiffness: his ease of manner disarmed us
6.
(military) at ease
  1. (of a standing soldier, etc) in a relaxed position with the feet apart and hands linked behind the back
  2. a command to adopt such a position
  3. in a relaxed attitude or frame of mind
verb
7.
to make or become less burdensome
8.
(transitive) to relieve (a person) of worry or care; comfort
9.
(transitive) to make comfortable or give rest to
10.
(transitive) to make less difficult; facilitate
11.
to move or cause to move into, out of, etc, with careful manipulation: to ease a car into a narrow space
12.
when intr, often foll by off or up. to lessen or cause to lessen in severity, pressure, tension, or strain; slacken, loosen, or abate
13.
(archaic, euphemistic) ease oneself, ease nature, to urinate or defecate
14.
(nautical) ease the helm, to relieve the pressure on the rudder of a vessel, esp by bringing the bow into the wind
Derived Forms
easer, noun
Word Origin
C13: from Old French aise ease, opportunity, from Latin adjacēns neighbouring (area); see adjacent
Word Origin and History for ease off

ease

n.

early 13c., from Old French aise "comfort, pleasure, well-being; opportunity," of unknown origin, despite attempts to link it to various Latin verbs.

The earliest senses in French 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 Vulgar Latin asa, a shortened form of Latin ansa "handle," which could be used in the figurative sense of "opportunity, occasion," as well as being a possible synonym for "elbow," because Latin 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."

v.

c.1300, "to help, assist," see ease (n.). Meaning "to give ease" is from mid-14c.; the sense of "to relax one's efforts" is from 1863. Farmer reports ease in a slang sense of "to content a woman" sexually, with an 1861 date. Related: Eased; easing.

Idioms and Phrases with ease off

ease off

.
Also, ease up. Lessen in severity, relax; abate. For example, I wish you'd ease off on Harold; he's doing the best he can, or The wind's eased up so I think the storm is just about over. [ Late 1800s ]
Also see: let up
.
Fall away, gradually decrease, as in The market's easing off, so we may get some stocks more cheaply. [ Late 1800s ]

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