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ease
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
ease
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
ease a shortage (=make it less serious)
▪ Building more houses will ease the shortage of accommodation.
ease of movement (=when someone or something can move easily)
▪ Cyclists wear tight fitting shorts for ease of movement.
ease sanctions (=make them less strict)
▪ The last administration decided to ease sanctions against Cuba.
ease the strain (=make it less)
▪ You can do much to ease the strain of the situation for her.
ease/allay/dispel sb’s fears (=help someone stop being afraid)
▪ Frank eased my fears about not being able to speak the local language.
ease/reduce/lighten the burden
▪ Smaller classes would ease the burden for teachers.
reduce/ease/relieve tension
▪ Breathing deeply helps to clear my mind and reduce tension.
relax/ease restrictions (=make them less strict)
▪ There are restrictions on travel to Cuba by American citizens.
relieve/ease pain (also alleviate painformal) (= make it less severe)
▪ Exercise can help to relieve lower back pain.
relieve/ease/reduce overcrowding
▪ There are plans to relieve overcrowding in the village.
the rain eases off (=it starts to rain less)
▪ The rain should ease off in a minute.
with consummate ease (=very easily)
▪ He won the race with consummate ease .
with practised ease
▪ He faced the television cameras with practised ease.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
apparent
▪ One such was David Gentleman who was impressed by the apparent ease with which the drawings had been produced.
▪ Pearce pauses for reflection when asked to define the qualities which took him to the top with such apparent ease.
▪ But apparent ease of transition has been achieved only with much thought and sensitivity.
▪ Rohmer seized his wrist and with apparent ease, twisted.
▪ Susan Allen's sister quite rightly asked why she was allowed to draw her gun from the armoury with such apparent ease.
comparative
▪ We stripped a combination of primer and varnish from a plywood screen with comparative ease.
▪ Her life, comparative ease from the cradle up; she had to thank her father.
▪ Gooch was 57, Stewart 38, and the new-ball attack had been weathered with comparative ease.
▪ He is following a correspondence course in gardening for adults with comparative ease.
consummate
▪ They led a well-orchestrated attack and found their target with consummate ease.
▪ Illustrations produced by any package can be transferred with consummate ease to another.
▪ The mind does extraordinary things exaggerating or minimising with consummate ease.
▪ Levinson demonstrates consummate ease with this material.
equal
▪ Rotational needs - the venue may change when meetings are held regularly to allow delegates equal ease of access 5.
▪ She snapped out careless retorts and soared in brief Puccinian reminiscences with equal ease.
▪ Leopards can run, jump, climb trees and swim with equal ease.
▪ By undulating this, it drives itself forwards - or, with equal ease, backwards.
great
▪ This means you can change its layout in many different ways with great ease.
▪ It is unlikely that we shall escape these rituals with any greater ease today than when those words were written.
▪ She had on several occasions fobbed off my clumsy advances with great ease and much friendliness.
▪ Room to carry the essentials and luxuries with the greatest of ease.
▪ A few days later the few uneven patches were shaped up with a second mowing, with the greatest of ease.
▪ And all apparently with the greatest of ease.
▪ To those bred in greater ease, I suppose this is one of his less attractive sides.
▪ I thought, as we climbed through the air with the greatest of ease.
ill
▪ And all of this is inevitable, for Utopians are ill at ease at the sharp end of politics.
▪ He is extremely ill at ease.
▪ Nevertheless, their formality sits ill at ease with Esau's spontaneous show of love.
▪ They looked ill at ease in the same camera frame.
▪ A thin, nervous child, with drab mid-brown hair and pointed features, she was ill at ease.
▪ The thought of confinement can make me ill at ease.
▪ He pressed the button controlling the trolley and moved forward again, feeling ill at ease and claustrophobic.
▪ If people are already ill at ease in unfamiliar surroundings the order of service becomes another pressure.
relative
▪ It provides the breadth and depth of financial resources required to enable banks to adjust their liquidity positions with relative ease.
▪ Do you really want to give up the relative ease of having a whole accounting department at your beck and call?
▪ We are able to explain and understand completely new ideas with relative ease.
▪ Why not just stick with egg rolls and pot stickers, which most kitchens can handle with relative ease?
▪ It includes assets which could be converted with relative ease and without capital loss into spending on goods and services.
▪ Such schemes as this will offer the possibility for speed with flexibility and relative ease of use.
▪ Whilst most user groups can be identified with relative ease, the various types of material or service often resist clear definition.
▪ C., where she lived a life of relative ease and privilege.
■ VERB
feel
▪ He had almost made her feel at ease, but her embarrassment was not something she could laugh about.
▪ Then as now, judges felt more at ease burning some poor wretch if they had a confession in hand.
▪ I feel at ease within myself and I am at peace.
▪ Perhaps they feel more at ease helping their children with their homework.
▪ He pressed the button controlling the trolley and moved forward again, feeling ill at ease and claustrophobic.
▪ Players feel at ease around their new coach.
▪ She felt remarkably at ease with this man who only three nights before had been a total stranger.
▪ Such furnishings, they think, provide status for users of the systems and make them feel more at ease.
help
▪ A vet, may be able to suggest some treatment to help ease tight muscles causing the pain.
▪ And they put young people in touch with adult role models who can help ease the shift into adulthood.
▪ It recently launched a program to cull the academic community for new technologies that will help ease the gridlock.
increase
▪ The system will use intelligent retrieval technologies to increase the speed, ease and accuracy of answering customer support calls.
▪ The first is to increase the ease and reduce the cost of performing previously expensive, time-consuming tasks.
▪ Delaney pushed him back, slowly at first, then with increasing ease, carrying on as he rolled over the top.
put
▪ Fred Bradley stayed very much in the background and his soft, kind eyes helped to put her at ease.
▪ Well, let me put your mind at ease, Winston.
▪ Female speaker I was worried because I looked small, but it put me at ease knowing everything was all right inside.
▪ Could never talk to women, never had the knack for putting them at ease.
▪ I was very shy but his mischievous grin put me at my ease and we strolled along behind Sally and her beau.
▪ But Cose put my mind at ease in his introduction.
▪ Speech can actually improve if stammerers can be put at ease.
▪ The surroundings put him at ease.
seem
▪ Prost seemed utterly at ease with the pressure being put on him.
▪ Only the charming little stewardess seemed completely at ease in his presence.
▪ His birthday it might be, but the Grand Duke seemed ill at ease as he received them in the morning room.
▪ While many in the Society seemed at ease with the practice, he had to speak up.
▪ Michael Portillo seemed ill at ease, and his voice squeaked and cracked like a choirboy.
▪ Everyone seemed quite at ease as they remained standing and casting large shadows on Lois and her group.
▪ Only the boy seemed now quite at ease.
▪ He didn't seem at ease.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
ill at ease
▪ And all of this is inevitable, for Utopians are ill at ease at the sharp end of politics.
▪ By the way, most women are very ill at ease when you call them out from the jury pool.
▪ He is extremely ill at ease.
▪ He looked about him, for once strangely ill at ease, disconcerted to learn that she had ridden off ahead of him.
▪ If people are already ill at ease in unfamiliar surroundings the order of service becomes another pressure.
▪ Nevertheless, their formality sits ill at ease with Esau's spontaneous show of love.
▪ The thought of confinement can make me ill at ease.
▪ They looked ill at ease in the same camera frame.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ I'm amazed at the sense of ease he has with children.
▪ I was surprised by the ease with which I had gotten reservations.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Already Morales talks of being tired, and he appears ill at ease with the insistent pace of campaigning.
▪ Because of the ease of manufacture, an increasing number of so-called Cassegrain reflectors are being made to the Dall-Kirkham design.
▪ But, as of old, his smooth face fairly shone with affable ease.
▪ C., where she lived a life of relative ease and privilege.
▪ Just like that, with the ease and assurance of a thing that was not only commonplace hut also predestined.
▪ The ideal tech is good at computers and at ease with people, a combination which can be difficult to find.
▪ They offer the advantages of cheapness, ease of operation and simple maintenance, and are ideal for routine petrographic purposes.
▪ We stripped a combination of primer and varnish from a plywood screen with comparative ease.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
away
▪ But the stars soon lost their sheen and went out as the first strain of light eased away the darkness.
▪ He trotted in sync across the yard as the swarm eased away.
back
▪ He eased back the stick and the nose came up and the jeep slid into his gunsight.
▪ It was time to ease back over to the slow lane, take another off-ramp, let the car cool.
▪ I ease back with the gun so he has room to move.
▪ Glover eased back in his chair and played possum.
▪ Thawed by the meal, we've eased back together.
▪ Profits eased back from £15.1m to £14.7m before taxation in the first half as turnover stagnated at £98.8m.
▪ The fourth stair up creaked as it eased back into place.
▪ But there are more flexible ways of easing back into the job market.
gently
▪ Then he gently eased her arms down, and with infinite patience began to stroke her nightdress from her body.
▪ She grasped at the barrier between us and gently eased the wire apart.
▪ Hook your right toes or ankle above your left knee and gently ease your left leg back in small slow movements.
▪ She gently eased it off his lap, gave it a few licks and pushed it over to me for first bite.
▪ Using a knife, gently ease the mixture away from the sides of the dish. 7.
▪ Place your hands either side of your leg and gently ease forward.
▪ This will loosen up your left shoulder as you gently ease your left arm further over your head.
▪ Lean to your right side, gently easing the waist into that position.
off
▪ The mortaring had eased off a bit.
▪ The climb slowly eases off as you reach the summit plateau.
▪ Niki had a big cushion on the third-place car, eased off and placed second.
▪ Then she eased off her shoes, put her stockinged feet on the fender and began to read.
▪ But if it doesn't ease off, or if it gets worse, you must see your doctor.
▪ Tobacco is a drug and addicts should be given a chance to ease off gradually.
▪ Lorna met me at Kennedy, warned me to ease off.
up
▪ His doctor had told him to ease up.
▪ He appeared to ease up in the last 10 meters of the race.
▪ The snow was easing up and last-minute shoppers were everywhere.
▪ But Black is too clever for that and has gone into hiding, waiting for the pressure to ease up.
▪ I'd ease up on the hard stuff if I were you.
▪ Also, the culture has eased up on men.
▪ Gently she released the metal bolt, eased up the lower light and clambered through.
▪ When the boss comes along, you sputter and flutter into activity, then ease up once he leaves.
■ NOUN
burden
▪ I help to ease that burden for him.
▪ They will block further tax cuts, except modest breaks for small businesses to ease the burden of a minimum wage increase.
▪ From time to time, authorities step forward to ease the burden of incomprehension.
▪ The agency apparently also wants to ease its administrative burdens under the contracting ordinance.
▪ Non-domestic rates are also regressive but various measures have sought to ease the burden.
▪ Moreover, there is no doubt that in large classes this practice can ease the burden on the class teacher.
▪ Reserves Perry Carter and Lionel Washington handled the emergency responsibilities with little problem, easing the burden of an undermanned secondary.
car
▪ With painful care she eased the car out of its parking place and into the flow of traffic.
▪ Lois eased her car to a stop in front of the Johnsons' place.
▪ Grumbling quietly in a highly satisfactory sort of way, I eased the car into the traffic and headed back towards Colcutt.
▪ He nodded a goodbye, forced a smile, then eased himself into his car and slammed the door.
▪ Larry eased the car to a stop alongside the rail fence.
▪ He eased the car gently up the cobbled ramp, passed beneath the shadowed arch of the gatehouse.
▪ Miguel eased his car forward a little and slipped into a dark spot by a gurgling hydrant.
crisis
▪ Giscard d'Estaing even went to meet Brezhnev in May 1980 to ease the sense of crisis.
▪ Fujitsu sells another 30% to ease its cash crisis.
▪ Sao Paulo state officials admit that more aggressive long-term water conservation may have averted, or at least eased, the crisis.
▪ Recognising the problem, district councillors have come up with a much needed cash injection to ease the crisis.
difficulty
▪ I hope that it will ease the difficulties of people who face such a tragic circumstance.
▪ Since the 1987 article, some bureaux have taken action to ease the difficulties of the hearing impaired.
▪ Try this putting idea as it can ease the difficulty of computing distance and direction together once you have addressed the ball.
fear
▪ Donna gripped her hand briefly to reassure her, but the gesture did little to ease Julie's fear.
▪ But focus groups eased the fear.
▪ How long had it been since she had let anyone come this close, comfort her, try to ease her fears?
▪ By selecting a doctrinal conservative with a record of compassion, the Vatican eased those fears.
grip
▪ He eases his grip on John's hand.
▪ She gave me a gooey smile and then eased her grip.
▪ He eased his grip, then let go completely.
▪ Deflation, the curse of farmers and wage earners, seemed ready to ease its icy grip.
mind
▪ Concentrating on the stitching helped to ease her mind, and the hours passed.
▪ I had had to talk about him to some one to ease my mind.
▪ When they thud through the letter-box, £150 will go a long way to ease your mind.
pain
▪ And within a week of switching to a macrobiotic diet the pains had eased.
▪ Muscular aches and pains can be eased by eucalyptus, camomile, lavender or marjoram.
▪ Once the patient has passed through casualty and becomes a coronary care admission the pain has usually eased significantly.
▪ It certainly sounds as if he might have a peptic ulcer - especially as the pain is eased by milk.
passage
▪ They meet with men from an agency who promise to accompany them and ease their passage across borders.
▪ Rostov used the moment to search for a formula which would ease his passage through the final introduction.
plight
▪ There was little Sanson could do to ease the King's plight other than expedite the procedure.
▪ Or he could introduce an exchange rate policy to ease the plight of manufacturing companies.
position
▪ The Labour government eased the position by reducing the levy.
▪ I eased into an upright position, ducking back out of sight until I heard him start the car and pull away.
▪ Be ready to ease up to stay in position as the tug starts to climb.
▪ Carrie eased her position in the cushioned chair and stretched again.
▪ Accordingly, in future the limit will rise with increase in the hourly remuneration rates, which should ease the position.
▪ Finally, the front legs can be eased into position, the seat and rails and the whole lot driven home.
▪ Gently ease into this position and repeat with your left leg out to the side.
▪ The situation can be improved by gently easing the edge into position with your hands and steaming the welt.
pressure
▪ After she moved to New York the pressures eased somewhat.
▪ Construction improved and cost pressures are easing, he added.
▪ But Black is too clever for that and has gone into hiding, waiting for the pressure to ease up.
▪ The pressure had been eased, however, when White drove Dharmasena through the covers for the first boundary in 21 overs.
problem
▪ The growth of labour productivity and commercialization eased some of these problems.
▪ This meant flexible hours and more time at home, which eased the problems of parents.
▪ The slump in profits has limited the scope for corporation tax offsets but economic recovery should help ease the problem.
▪ But there are short- and medium-term measures that can contain and ease the problems.
▪ This will include disk compression, which will ease the space problem on your Compaq portable.
▪ This eases the problem, because a number of circuits exist which give a complete null at one frequency.
▪ The project aims to ease the homelessness problem in the region.
▪ Relocation to an area which presented the right company image together with good facilities for employees could ease the problem.
restriction
▪ The number of deals will grow as the finance ministry eases restrictions on raising capital offshore.
▪ Then, a couple of weeks ago, Congress passed the Telecommunications Reform Act, which eases restrictions on cross-ownership of media.
▪ The directive is designed to ease labour market restrictions and strengthen the single market.
▪ But he supported an amendment that would have eased the restrictions.
▪ The security forces began easing the curfew restrictions on Feb. 5.
▪ This easing of restrictions opened the floodgates for commercial Internet access.
▪ Within five years, 45 states had similarly eased restrictions on divorce, and now all 50 have such laws.
▪ The proposal calls for easing land-use restrictions and establishing a road-financing plan so sparsely used properties can be turned into thriving enterprises.
shortage
▪ It also might ease shortages on the San Diego side of the border.
▪ He had expected to get a $ 100m loan to ease the fuel shortage.
▪ The money wage increases which workers won exceeded those required to generate enough scrapping to ease labour shortage.
situation
▪ Teachers also received a great deal of support and help from both popular organizations and from communities to ease their situation.
▪ The rain and snow that came Friday and Saturday will do little to ease the situation.
strain
▪ Ember twisted his head to ease the strain in his neck.
▪ Western teaches a Santa leg lift to ease the strain.
▪ She was pushing his body to the limits of its endurance to divert and ease the strain on his spirit.
tension
▪ And pumping more weapons into Bosnia is likely to raise tensions, rather than ease them.
▪ After a while the tension eased.
transition
▪ It may be desirable to spend what could otherwise be dole money on temporarily subsidizing lame ducks to ease the transition.
▪ Person has been active in Farm Wrap, a program that helps ease the transition from agriculture to other careers.
▪ We have provided valuable economic and humanitarian aid to ease the transition to a market economy.
▪ But Golding said she would work with Huntington Beach officials to ease his transition.
▪ As a way to ease that transition, the Department of Defense has agreed to allow it to become a redevelopment area.
▪ It was Schindler who stepped in at that moment to ease the transition to the right.
▪ This meeting was to air grievances and ease our transition into the future.
way
▪ When they thud through the letter-box, £150 will go a long way to ease your mind.
▪ It also recommends ways to ease those effects.
▪ It was a great way to be eased into a new genre.
▪ I never suspected them of having spied for long, a feeling which in no way eased my shame.
▪ Grumbling quietly in a highly satisfactory sort of way, I eased the car into the traffic and headed back towards Colcutt.
▪ As a way to ease that transition, the Department of Defense has agreed to allow it to become a redevelopment area.
▪ In other words, it was a way of easing the dilemma of choosing between tax cuts or more public spending.
▪ Visiting the supermarket might have been a transforming moment for Alexei, a way of easing his contempt and shattering his paralysis.
worry
▪ Shrewsbury eased their worries with a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Halifax at Gay Meadow.
▪ This would ease worries in the West about supply shortages.
■ VERB
begin
▪ The security forces began easing the curfew restrictions on Feb. 5.
▪ You crumple the paper and begin daydreaming to ease the frustration.
▪ Then, holding her own breath and moving stealthily on tiptoe, she began to ease her way towards the exit.
▪ In the summer of 1947, he began easing Babe Connelly out as committeeman of the Eleventh Ward.
▪ Growth began to falter and inflation began to ease.
▪ War fears in Washington began to ease.
design
▪ Of course, family allowances, tax benefits and preferential housing allocation are all designed to ease the cost of dependent children.
▪ This can be avoided through a training program which is designed to ease people into the technology gradually and with confidence.
▪ The directive is designed to ease labour market restrictions and strengthen the single market.
help
▪ I help to ease that burden for him.
▪ In a way it helped ease the guilt.
▪ He walked around in this fashion for a while, it helped to ease his frustrations.
▪ He also wound up mad enough to spend eight years in courtrooms, battling for something else to help ease the pain.
▪ The slump in profits has limited the scope for corporation tax offsets but economic recovery should help ease the problem.
▪ Knowing this should help to ease your pain and anguish.
▪ It helps to ease my pain, even though you aren't hearing me.
▪ The building will help ease the growing pressure on academic accommodation.
seem
▪ Outside, the rain which had been falling when they entered the building seemed to have eased.
▪ Deflation, the curse of farmers and wage earners, seemed ready to ease its icy grip.
▪ Our amusement at his false assumption seemed to ease the tension between us.
▪ It really does seem to ease their breathing while they sleep.
try
▪ Most of us will try anything to ease ourselves of the pain of having been unsatisfactory children.
▪ I wanted to try to ease him for a disappointment to come.
▪ It was a generous gesture to try to ease the tension and relax a fellow professional.
▪ Whose own sorrows I would gladly try to ease.
▪ He tried unsuccessfully to ease the T-shirt over the boy's head.
▪ In the late I960s the city planners of Stuttgart tried to ease downtown traffic by adding a street.
▪ I try to ease the tension for players.
▪ I was trying to ease the wagon down a short slope when it broke loose and almost broke my leg.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Congress may ease import restrictions on grain.
▪ Rod rubbed his jaw to ease the pain a little.
▪ Tensions in the region have eased slightly.
▪ The arrival of the others eased her embarrassment slightly.
▪ The help of UN experts eased the transition to independence.
▪ We need to get rid of Africa's long-term debt burden, and ease trade and commerce.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A faint smile eased her heavy mouth.
▪ Cresson warned, however, that partial privatizations should not be used to ease the government's financial problems.
▪ I was trying to ease the wagon down a short slope when it broke loose and almost broke my leg.
▪ She eased herself slowly from the bed.
▪ The overtime and opportunities for easing which court duty affords is often not compensation enough for the stress it involves.
▪ This led to a discussion of timetabling and the constraints imposed by group sizes, and how these constraints might be eased.
▪ To ease non-marital breakups:-Remind yourself why you moved in in the first place.
▪ Whose own sorrows I would gladly try to ease.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ease

Ease \Ease\ ([=e]z), n. [OE. ese, eise, F. aise; akin to Pr. ais, aise, OIt. asio, It. agio; of uncertain origin; cf. L. ansa handle, occasion, opportunity. Cf. Agio, Disease.]

  1. Satisfaction; pleasure; hence, accommodation; entertainment. [Obs.]

    They him besought Of harbor and or ease as for hire penny.
    --Chaucer.

  2. Freedom from anything that pains or troubles; as:

    1. Relief from labor or effort; rest; quiet; relaxation; as, ease of body.

      Usefulness comes by labor, wit by ease.
      --Herbert.

      Give yourself ease from the fatigue of watching.
      --Swift.

    2. Freedom from care, solicitude, or anything that annoys or disquiets; tranquillity; peace; comfort; security; as, ease of mind.

      Among these nations shalt thou find no ease.
      --Deut. xxviii. 65.

      Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
      --Luke xii. 19.

    3. Freedom from constraint, formality, difficulty, embarrassment, etc.; facility; liberty; naturalness; -- said of manner, style, etc.; as, ease of style, of behavior, of address.

      True ease in writing comes from art, not chance.
      --Pope.

      Whate'er he did was done with so much ease, In him alone 't was natural to please.
      --Dryden.

      At ease, free from pain, trouble, or anxiety. ``His soul shall dwell at ease.''
      --Ps. xxv. 12.

      Chapel of ease. See under Chapel.

      Ill at ease, not at ease, disquieted; suffering; anxious.

      To stand at ease (Mil.), to stand in a comfortable attitude in one's place in the ranks.

      With ease, easily; without much effort.

      Syn: Rest; quiet; repose; comfortableness; tranquillity; facility; easiness; readiness.

Ease

Ease \Ease\ ([=e]z), v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Eased ([=e]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Easing.] [OE. esen, eisen, OF. aisier. See Ease, n.]

  1. To free from anything that pains, disquiets, or oppresses; to relieve from toil or care; to give rest, repose, or tranquillity to; -- often with of; as, to ease of pain; to ease the body or mind.

    Eased [from] the putting off These troublesome disguises which we wear.
    --Milton.

    Sing, and I 'll ease thy shoulders of thy load.
    --Dryden.

  2. To render less painful or oppressive; to mitigate; to alleviate.

    My couch shall ease my complaint.
    --Job vii. 1

  3. 3. To release from pressure or restraint; to move gently; to lift slightly; to shift a little; as, to ease a bar or nut in machinery.

  4. To entertain; to furnish with accommodations. [Obs.]
    --Chaucer.

    To ease off, To ease away (Naut.), to slacken a rope gradually.

    To ease a ship (Naut.), to put the helm hard, or regulate the sail, to prevent pitching when closehauled.

    To ease the helm (Naut.), to put the helm more nearly amidships, to lessen the effect on the ship, or the strain on the wheel rope.
    --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

    Syn: To relieve; disburden; quiet; calm; tranquilize; assuage; alleviate; allay; mitigate; appease; pacify.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ease

c.1200, "physical comfort, undisturbed state of the body; tranquility, peace of mind," from Old French aise "comfort, pleasure, well-being; opportunity," which is of unknown origin, despite attempts to link it to various Latin verbs; perhaps Celtic. According to OED, the earliest senses in French appear to be

  1. "elbow-room" (from an 11th century Hebrew-French glossary) and

  2. "opportunity." This led Sophus Bugge to suggest an origin in Vulgar Latin asa, a shortened form of Latin ansa "handle," which could be used in the figurative sense of "opportunity, occasion," as well as being a possible synonym for "elbow," because Latin ansatus "furnished with handles" also was used to mean "having the arms akimbo." OED editors add, "This is not very satisfactory, but it does not appear that any equally plausible alternative has yet been proposed."\n

    \nAt ease "at rest, at peace, in comfort" is from late 14c.; as a military order (1802) the word denotes "freedom from stiffness or formality."

ease

c.1300, "to help, assist," from Old French aiser, from aise (see ease (n.)). Meaning "to give ease, mitigate, alleviate, relieve from pain or care" is from mid-14c. Meaning "render less difficult" is from 1630s; the sense of "to relax one's efforts" is from 1863 (with up by 1907, earlier with a more specific sense in sailing). Farmer reports ease in a slang sense of "to content a woman" sexually, with an 1861 date. Related: Eased; easing.

Wiktionary
ease

n. 1 The state of being comfortable or free from stress. 2 freedom from pain, worry, agitation, etc. 3 Freedom from effort, difficulty or hardship. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc. 2 (context transitive English) To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain). 3 (context transitive English) To give respite to (someone). 4 (context transitive English) To loosen or slacken the tension on (something). 5 (context transitive English) To reduce the difficulty of (something). 6 (context transitive English) To move (something) slowly and carefully. 7 (context intransitive English) To lessen in severity. 8 (context intransitive English) To proceed with little effort.

Related phrases:
WordNet
ease

  1. v. move gently or carefully; "He eased himself into the chair"

  2. lessen pain or discomfort; alleviate; "ease the pain in your legs" [syn: comfort]

  3. make easier; "you could facilitate the process by sharing your knowledge" [syn: facilitate, alleviate]

  4. lessen the intensity of or calm; "The news eased my conscience"; "still the fears" [syn: still, allay, relieve]

ease

  1. n. freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort; "he rose through the ranks with apparent ease"; "they put it into containers for ease of transportation" [syn: easiness, simplicity] [ant: difficulty]

  2. a freedom from financial difficulty that promotes a comfortable state; "a life of luxury and ease"; "he had all the material comforts of this world" [syn: comfort]

  3. the condition of being comfortable or relieved (especially after being relieved of distress); "he enjoyed his relief from responsibility"; "getting it off his conscience gave him some ease" [syn: relief]

  4. freedom from constraint or embarrassment; "I am never at ease with strangers" [syn: informality]

  5. freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility); "took his repose by the swimming pool" [syn: rest, repose, relaxation]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Ease

Ease may refer to:

  • Ease (programming language)
  • Ease (sewing)
  • Ease (software), presentation software for the GNOME desktop environment
  • Ease (novel), by Patrick Gale
  • Methylone, a substitute for the drug ecstasy, marketed briefly in New Zealand under the brand name Ease

At Ease may refer to:

  • At Ease, a desktop environment for Macintosh computers
  • “At ease” (U.S.) or “Stand at ease” (UK) is a military parade command.
Ease (programming language)

Ease is a general purpose parallel programming language, designed by Steven Ericsson-Zenith of Yale University. It combines the process constructs of CSP with logically shared data structures called contexts. Contexts are parallel data types that are constructed by processes and provide a way for processes to interact.

The language includes two process constructors.

A cooperation includes an explicit barrier synchronization and is written:

 ∥ P  ∥ Q ; 

If one process finishes before the other then it will wait until the other processes are finished.

A subordination creates a process that shares the contexts that are in scope when created and finishes when complete (it does not wait for other processes) and is written:

$\big /\!\!/ P ;$

Subordinate processes stop if they attempt to interact with a context that has completed because the parent process has stopped. This enables speculative processes to be created that will finish if their result is not needed.

Powerful replication syntax allows multiple processes to be created. For example

 ∥ i for n : P(i); 

creates n synchronized processes each with a local constant i.

Processes cannot share local variables and cooperate in the construction of shared contexts. Certain context types, called resources, ensure call-reply semantics.

There are four functions upon contexts:

  • read ( context, variable ), copies a value from the shared context to the variable.
  • write ( context, expression ), copies the value of expression to the shared context.
  • put ( context, name ), moves the value bound to name to the shared context. The value of name is subsequently undefined.
  • get ( context, name ), moves a value from context and binds it to name. The value is removed from the context.

Context types are Singletons, Bags or Streams and can be subscripted arrays.

Ease has a semiotic definition. This means that it takes into account the effect the language has on the programmer and how they develop algorithms. The language was designed to ease the development of parallel programs.

Ease (disambiguation)
Ease (sewing)

In sewing and patternmaking, ease is the amount of room a garment allows the wearer beyond the measurements of their body. For example, if a man has a 40-inch chest measurement, a jacket with a 40-inch chest would be very tight and would constrict movement. An ease of 3 or 4 inches might be added to the pattern (making a 43-44 inch chest), or more to enhance comfort or style. Ease is not generally included in sizing measurements. To use the example again, a man with a 40-inch chest will likely buy a jacket advertised as size 40, but the actual measurements of the garment will almost always be somewhat larger.

Ease is most important for woven garments cut on the straight or crossgrain, allowing little or no stretch.

A sloper pattern or block pattern is a simple pattern with very little or no ease made for the purpose of fitting the body accurately, from which more finished or stylized patterns may be developed.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "ease".

It was useless to take them to task, to inform them that this behaviour instead of easing their plight only brought out the worst in their superiors and made them the butt of every perceived mistake aboard ship.

Once the two-hundred-foot abseiling rope was on the ground, Joe and Fat Boy would start to ease themselves out of the heli so that their feet were on the deck and their bodies were at forty-five degrees to the ground.

Among other results was the ease with which German Protestantism became the instrument of royal and princely absolutism from the sixteenth century until the kings and princes were overthrown in 1918.

We kept up with the morphine, and I gave her a little Acetaminophen to ease her temperature.

If any complain of this breach of honour, I must tell them that I had made a mental reservation not to keep my promise, and those who are acquainted with the morality of the children of Ignatius will understand that I was completely at my ease.

A horse down with the aftosa need a sight of heroin to ease his pain and maybe some of that heroin take off across the lonesome prairie and whinny in Washington Square.

To ease his agonizing guilt, he needed to punish himself, she realized.

My correspondence took an hour or so, for I had few letters to answer that day, and I passed the rest of the morning at work with my book on the history of the algebraic method, writing with great ease those passages wherein I demonstrated with unchallengeable proofs the fraudulent claims of Vieta, all of whose inventions were, in fact, conceived some thirty years previously by Mr.

He discovered that he could align himself between two pipes and pull himself hand over hand with relative ease.

They lie here trapped in glass, little two-carbon aliphatic molecules that can drown regret, banish fear, and ease the ache of conscience.

Malvin had tried to ease Alker out of a business in which he had tied up some fifty thousand dollars, and expected to add more.

They swung in wide left turns at a comfortable altitude and in loose formation to ease the pilots.

Most of them had been happy to just sign on the dotted line, content to move to a life of ambitionless ease.

She had eaten a slice of bread with a bit of honey for breakfast, but now the sun eased towards the horizon, and Amelle was hungry.

He was only quite at ease when having poured several glasses of wine mechanically into his large mouth he felt a pleasant warmth in his body, an amiability toward all his fellows, and a readiness to respond superficially to every idea without probing it deeply.