Library / English Dictionary

EASE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility)

Example:

took his repose by the swimming pool

Synonyms:

ease; relaxation; repose; rest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("ease" is a kind of...):

inactivity (being inactive; being less active)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ease"):

bed rest; bedrest (confinement to bed continuously (as in the case of some sick or injured persons))

laziness (relaxed and easy activity)

lie-in (a long stay in bed in the morning)

dormancy; quiescence; quiescency; sleeping (quiet and inactive restfulness)

leisure (freedom to choose a pastime or enjoyable activity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort

Example:

the very easiness of the deed held her back

Synonyms:

ease; easiness; simpleness; simplicity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("ease" is a kind of...):

quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)

Attribute:

easy (posing no difficulty; requiring little effort)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ease"):

effortlessness (the quality of requiring little effort)

Antonym:

difficulty (the quality of being difficult)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Freedom from constraint or embarrassment

Example:

I am never at ease with strangers

Synonyms:

ease; informality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("ease" is a kind of...):

naturalness (the quality of being natural or based on natural principles)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The condition of being comfortable or relieved (especially after being relieved of distress)

Example:

getting it off his conscience gave him some ease

Synonyms:

ease; relief

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("ease" is a kind of...):

comfort; comfortableness (a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ease"):

reprieve; respite (a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort)

Derivation:

ease (lessen the intensity of or calm)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A freedom from financial difficulty that promotes a comfortable state

Example:

he had all the material comforts of this world

Synonyms:

comfort; ease

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("ease" is a kind of...):

affluence; richness (abundant wealth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ease"):

lap of luxury (in conditions of wealth and comfort)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lessen pain or discomfort; alleviate

Example:

ease the pain in your legs

Synonyms:

comfort; ease

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "ease" is one way to...):

alleviate; assuage; palliate; relieve (provide physical relief, as from pain)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

easement; easing (the act of reducing something unpleasant (as pain or annoyance))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make easier

Example:

you could facilitate the process by sharing your knowledge

Synonyms:

alleviate; ease; facilitate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "ease" is one way to...):

aid; assist; help (give help or assistance; be of service)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

easing (a change for the better)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lessen the intensity of or calm

Example:

still the fears

Synonyms:

allay; ease; relieve; still

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "ease" is one way to...):

comfort; console; solace; soothe (give moral or emotional strength to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ease"):

abreact (discharge bad feelings or tension through verbalization)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The good news will ease her

Derivation:

ease (the condition of being comfortable or relieved (especially after being relieved of distress))

easement (the act of reducing something unpleasant (as pain or annoyance))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move gently or carefully

Example:

He eased himself into the chair

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "ease" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Also:

ease up (move in order to make room for someone for something)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It is as well I should ease my mind before I die: what we think little of in health, burdens us at such an hour as the present is to me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

My instincts are all against a woman being too frank and at her ease with me.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She found it harder to bear than the others because she could remember a time when home was beautiful, life full of ease and pleasure, and want of any kind unknown.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

During this time they are much visited by their friends, because they cannot go abroad with their usual ease and satisfaction.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“And who else?” returned the other, getting more at his ease.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It would ease your conscience, and possibly your punishment.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

This lagomorph has non-pigmented skin and long slender ears which allows for ease of visualization of peripheral vasculature, thus facilitating phlebotomical procedures.

(New Zealand White Rabbit, NCI Thesaurus)

The process by which a value is assigned to represent another set of values for ease of evaluation within a particular process.

(Numeric Conversion, NCI Thesaurus)

There are many things you can do to help ease pain.

(Pain Relievers, NIH)