adverb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
cook sth gently/slowly (=on a low heat)
▪ Reduce the heat and cook gently for 20 minutes.
kiss sb gently/lightly
▪ He kissed her gently and stroked her hair.
pitch gently/steeply etc
▪ The roof pitches sharply to the rear of the house.
simmer gently
▪ Bring the soup to the boil and allow it to simmer gently for about half an hour.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
ask
▪ Adrienne asked gently, untying her thoughts.
▪ Athena, began by asking gently was this some sort of drinking-bout she had happened upon?
ease
▪ 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.
move
▪ Seawitch moved gently on the water.
▪ Jigeehuu said, gently moving us on to more comfortable conversational ground.
▪ As I sat there in the dark, the ship moving gently in the water, I almost fell asleep.
▪ Hold your hands in this position for a few moments, then gently move them away.
▪ Hold for 20 30 sec, moving gently to agitate.
▪ Of course that was just stage one, when we moved gently up into position at the Valve.
press
▪ Dough should not be sticky but should hold together when pressed gently with fork.
▪ Bake for about 20 minutes more, until cake is brown and feels firm when gently pressed.
▪ Frame the shot in the viewfinder, and gently press the camera button to start the shot while holding the picture steady.
▪ Effleurage the shoulders and press gently.
▪ Top with remaining onion mixture. Gently press down to form an even, flat surface.
▪ You can do this quite simply by lifting the forelimbs together and gently pressing down on the top of the shoulders.
▪ Their seat backs pressed gently against them with each rhythmic surge of the horses against their harnesses.
pull
▪ With your fingers pointing downwards, gently pull each hand alternately straight up from the floor or table.
▪ I lifted my hands to the rope, then pulled gently.
▪ He gently pulled them away, staring down at her body.
▪ Bend right leg and bring foot back and up, holding toot around instep and gently pulling heel in towards right buttock.
▪ Then she cupped her hands around Jack's face and gently pulled him to his feet.
▪ I take hold of the string and pull gently.
▪ Take the loose ends and pull gently until the cable forms.
push
▪ On Earth this should not work. but in space a kettle would gently push itself along with its escaping steam.
▪ She gently pushes me down into the seat and walks out.
▪ His wife winces, and gently pushes hers into place.
▪ He gently pushed the end of the wire in.
▪ Keep both legs taut and straight and gently push up with both arms.
▪ She pushed gently on the closed door of the boot-and-brushing room.
▪ She gently pushed it, and immediately it swung open.
▪ Take advantage of bath-time when hands have been soaking in warm water to gently push back cuticles with an orange stick.
rock
▪ The boat rocked gently of its own accord.
▪ Hsu Fu merely rocked gently at the onslaught.
▪ When I returned, Jett was sitting exactly as I'd left him, hugging himself and rocking gently to and fro.
▪ She smelled the salt, and imagined the dock rocking gently to and fro.
▪ It was a bleak sort of day, with occasional gusts of wind gently rocking the vehicle from side to side.
▪ As he passed underneath, it rocked gently as if on invisible waves.
▪ The boat was there, tied up and rocking gently to the swirl of the dark water inshore.
▪ A giant wave approaches and gently rocks the ship.
simmer
▪ Season to taste and leave to simmer gently until the vegetables are almost tender.
▪ Place a rack in a pot holding 1 to 2 inches of gently simmering water.
▪ Season to taste with salt and pepper and sugar. Simmer gently until the mixture is thick.
▪ Stir in onion, bay leaf and paprika. Simmer gently, stirring often, 15 minutes.
▪ In one corner stood a gas-stove on which a black kettle simmered gently.
▪ Return rabbit to skillet, cover, and simmer gently until rabbit is tender, about 40 minutes.
▪ Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
slope
▪ Heron like the gently sloping muddy sides of canals.
▪ Tubac rests on the crest of a gently sloping hill.
▪ The narrow road sloped gently upwards.
▪ A virgin splay of grass traumatized by five months of snow sloped gently down to the water.
▪ On their left it sloped gently away and on the right it fell sheer, in steep crags.
▪ The grass sloped gently away from the college towards what must be the bank of the stream he had mentioned earlier.
smile
▪ Loopy Lil gently smiled her new even welfare smile while Mrs Hollidaye darned lisle stockings.
▪ Robert smiled gently behind his shyness.
▪ Mr Havel, who has a genius for pinpointing the absurd, smiled gently and sipped at some mineral water.
stir
▪ Gently stir in the other ingredients and arrange in scallop shells or on a plate.
▪ Gently stir rice into chicken mixture.
▪ Cook for a minute or two until it begins to set, then stir gently to lightly scramble. 4.
▪ Add 1 cup sugar for every pound of fruit, and stir gently.
▪ Remove large debris and disperse the cells in the sucrose by gently stirring with the needle.
▪ Add black-eyed peas and gently stir in.
▪ Cook for a further 4 minutes, stirring gently, frequently. 3.
▪ Gently stir, then pour over cooled filling in crust.
stroke
▪ However, by patient wheedling and soft talk I managed to touch her and gently stroked her cheek with one finger.
▪ Late one night I stirred from a deep sleep to find Dad sitting beside my bed, gently stroking my hair.
▪ With the other he gently stroked his hair.
▪ Gently stroke the entire face with gentle upward movements as in Step 4. 14.
▪ She saw he was nervous, and encouraged him by gently stroking his neck and shoulders.
sway
▪ The summer sun spilled over the gardens, the trees swayed gently, the leaves rustling like soft, applauding hands.
▪ Bayfront Park, lined with gently swaying Palm trees, was a marked contrast to the gravity of the day.
▪ He was still fishing, the line plumbing the depths of the water, gently swaying in the light breeze.
▪ The peacock silk curtains swayed gently in the breeze.
▪ There he was silently surveying the world, swaying gently on a twig near the top of the tree!
touch
▪ Their bodies touched gently and came apart as they rounded a bend.
▪ We were to imagine a beautiful, white cloud gently touching our faces.
▪ Shutting her eyes, she then snapped them open again in panic as his mouth touched gently against hers.
▪ But women may be turned off more easily than men during early stages of arousal unless they are touched gently.
▪ Reaching out he gently touched her pallid face.
▪ He watched it for a while, and then took a piece of wood and gently touched it to the flame.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
let sb down lightly/gently
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Don gently kissed her on the cheek.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He pushed it gently open and looked in.
▪ Heat gently until sugar has dissolved.
▪ I put the phone into its cradle, extremely gently.
▪ In minutes she had garlic, onions, carrots and celery cooking together gently in olive oil.
▪ Now play some music and observe the l.e.d. - it should be seen to be varying in brightness gently with the music.
▪ Return rabbit to skillet, cover, and simmer gently until rabbit is tender, about 40 minutes.
▪ Though the sun was bright there was no warmth in it as yet and the air was gently bracing.