Dictionary entries for 'ease'

Synonyms

ease (ēz)

[Middle English ese, from Old French aise, elbowroom, physical comfort, from Vulgar Latin* asium.]

noun

The condition of being comfortable or relieved.
1. Freedom from pain, worry, or agitation: Her mind was at ease knowing that the children were safe.
2. Freedom from constraint or embarrassment; naturalness.
1. Freedom from difficulty, hardship, or effort: rose through the ranks with apparent ease.
2. Readiness or dexterity in performance; facility: a pianist who played the sonata with ease.
Freedom from financial difficulty; affluence: a life of luxury and ease.
A state of rest, relaxation, or leisure: He took his ease by the pond.

To free from pain, worry, or agitation: eased his conscience by returning the stolen money.
1. To lessen the discomfort or pain of: shifted position to ease her back.
2. To alleviate; assuage: prescribed a drug to ease the pain.
To give respite from: eased the staff's burden by hiring more people.
To slacken the strain, pressure, or tension of; loosen: ease off a cable.
To reduce the difficulty or trouble of: eased the entrance requirements.
To move or maneuver slowly and carefully: eased the car into a narrow space; eased the director out of office.

To lessen, as in discomfort, pressure, or stress: pain that never eased.
To move or proceed with little effort: eased through life doing as little as possible.

at ease: In a relaxed position, especially standing silently at rest with the right foot stationary: put the soldiers at ease while waiting for inspection. Used as a command for troops to assume a relaxed position.