ease
Pronunciation: (ēz), [key] — n., v., eased, eas•ing.
—n. - freedom from labor, pain, or physical annoyance; tranquil rest; comfort: to enjoy one's ease.
- freedom from concern, anxiety, or solicitude; a quiet state of mind: to be at ease about one's health.
- freedom from difficulty or great effort; facility: It can be done with ease.
- freedom from financial need; plenty: a life of ease on a moderate income.
- freedom from stiffness, constraint, or formality; unaffectedness: ease of manner; the ease and elegance of her poetry.
- a position of rest in which soldiers may relax but may not leave their places or talk.
—v.t. - to free from anxiety or care: to ease one's mind.
- to mitigate, lighten, or lessen: to ease pain.
- to release from pressure, tension, or the like.
- to move or shift with great care: to ease a car into a narrow parking space.
- to render less difficult; facilitate: I'll help if it will ease your job.
- to provide (an architectural member) with an easement.
- to trim (a timber of a wooden hull) so as to fair its surface into the desired form of the hull.
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- to bring (the helm or rudder of a vessel) slowly amidships.
- to bring the head of (a vessel) into the wind.
- to slacken or lessen the hold upon (a rope).
- to lessen the hold of (the brake of a windlass).
—v.i. - to abate in severity, pressure, tension, etc. (often fol. by off or up).
- to become less painful, burdensome, etc.
- to move, shift, or be moved or be shifted with great care.
- to remove from a position of authority, a job, or the like, esp. by methods intended to be tactful: He was eased out as division head to make way for the boss's nephew.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.