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SUPPLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely
Synonyms:
limber; supple
Classified under:
Similar:
flexible; flexile (able to flex; able to bend easily)
Derivation:
suppleness (the property of being pliant and flexible)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable
Example:
a limber imagination
Synonyms:
limber; supple
Classified under:
Similar:
flexible (capable of being changed)
Derivation:
suppleness (adaptability of mind or character)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Gracefully thin and bending and moving with ease
Synonyms:
lissom; lissome; lithe; lithesome; sinuous; supple
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
graceful (characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution)
Derivation:
suppleness (the gracefulness of a person or animal that is flexible and supple)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Make pliant and flexible
Example:
These boots are not yet suppled by frequent use
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "supple" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Context examples:
So intent were they upon each other that neither took note of his approach; until, when he was close upon them, the man threw his arm roughly round the damsel's waist and drew her towards him, she straining her lithe, supple figure away and striking fiercely at him, while the hooded hawk screamed with ruffled wings and pecked blindly in its mistress's defence.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Young, supple and active, with all the pent energies from years of pure and healthy living, it was not long before he could manage his horse and his weapon well enough to earn an approving nod from critical men-at-arms, or to hold his own against Terlake and Ford, his fellow-servitors.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
