Adjacent Words

Assuage definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ASSUA'GE, v.t.
To soften, in a figurative sense; to allay, mitigate, ease or lessen, as pain or grief; to appease or pacify, as passion or tumult. In strictness, it signifies rather to moderate, than to quiet, tranquilize or reduce to perfect peace or ease.
ASSUA'GE, v.i. To abate or subside.
The waters assuaged. Genesis 8.
But I apprehend the sense is, the waters were checked; Heb.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; "She managed to mollify the angry customer" [syn: pacify, lenify, conciliate, assuage, appease, mollify, placate, gentle, gruntle]
2: satisfy (thirst); "The cold water quenched his thirst" [syn: quench, slake, allay, assuage]
3: provide physical relief, as from pain; "This pill will relieve your headaches" [syn: relieve, alleviate, palliate, assuage]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (assuaged; assuaging) Etymology: Middle English aswagen, from Anglo-French asuager, from Vulgar Latin *assuaviare, from Latin ad- + suavis sweet — more at sweet Date: 14th century 1. to lessen the intensity of (something that pains or distresses) ; ease <unable to assuage their grief> 2. pacify, quiet <vainly strove…to assuage an implacable foe — Edward Gibbon> 3. to put an end to by satisfying ; appease, quench <assuaging his thirst> Synonyms: see relieve • assuagement noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 calm or soothe (a person, pain, etc.). 2 appease or relieve (an appetite or desire). Derivatives: assuagement n. assuager n. Etymology: ME f. OF as(s)ouagier ult. f. L suavis sweet

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assuage As*suage", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assuaged; p. pr. & vb. n. Assuaging.] [OE. asuagen, aswagen, OF. asoagier, asuagier, fr. assouagier, fr. L. ad + suavis sweet. See Sweet.] To soften, in a figurative sense; to allay, mitigate, ease, or lessen, as heat, pain, or grief; to appease or pacify, as passion or tumult; to satisfy, as appetite or desire. Refreshing winds the summer's heat assuage. --Addison. To assuage the sorrows of a desolate old man --Burke. The fount at which the panting mind assuages Her thirst of knowledge. --Byron. Syn: To alleviate; mitigate; appease; soothe; calm; tranquilize; relieve. See Alleviate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assuage As*suage", v. i. To abate or subside. [Archaic] ``The waters assuaged.'' --Gen. vii. 1. The plague being come to a crisis, its fury began to assuage. --De Foe.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(assuages, assuaging, assuaged) 1. If you assuage an unpleasant feeling that someone has, you make them feel it less strongly. (LITERARY) To assuage his wife's grief, he took her on a tour of Europe... VERB: V n 2. If you assuage a need or desire for something, you satisfy it. (LITERARY) The meat they'd managed to procure assuaged their hunger. VERB: V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-swaj' (the King James Version Asswage) :Lit,. "sweeten," "soften down"; then, "mitigate," "abate"; used of "flood," Ge 8:1 ("subside"); of grief, Job 16:5,6 ("restrain"); also applied to any strong emotion; not used in the New Testament.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Mitigate, moderate, appease, soothe, soften, mollify, pacify, compose, tranquillize, quiet, still, quell, allay, abate, temper, attemper, lessen, qualify, relieve, ease, dull, blunt, lull. See alleviate.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, adjust to, allay, alleviate, alter, anesthetize, appease, attemper, bank the fire, benumb, blunt, box in, chasten, circumscribe, condition, constrain, control, cushion, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, deaden the pain, diminish, downplay, dull, ease, ease matters, extenuate, feast, feed, foment, give relief, gratify, hedge, hedge about, keep within bounds, lay, leaven, lenify, lessen, lighten, limit, lull, mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mollify, narrow, numb, obtund, pad, palliate, play down, poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, qualify, quench, reduce, reduce the temperature, regale, regulate by, relieve, restrain, restrict, salve, sate, satiate, satisfy, season, set conditions, set limits, slacken, slake, slow down, smother, sober, sober down, soften, soothe, stifle, stupe, subdue, suppress, tame, temper, tone down, tune down, underplay, weaken