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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
soothe
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a calming/soothing effect (=one that makes you feel less angry, excited, or nervous)
▪ His words seemed to have a calming effect on the crowd.
a calming/soothing influence
▪ The music seemed to have a calming influence.
settle/soothe sb's nerves (=make someone feel less worried or nervous)
▪ She hoped that a cup of tea would soothe her nerves.
soothe your skin (=to stop it feeling painful or uncomfortable )
▪ The lotion helps to soothe your skin after you've been in the sun all day.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
away
▪ She felt an aching need for Fernando to soothe away the pain of desire from her loins.
▪ Polly rubbed the back of her neck, hoping to soothe away the tightness before it became a headache.
▪ I declined the invitation the only thoughts in my head were finding my bed to soothe away the aches and pains.
▪ Some one to soothe away the ache.
■ NOUN
fear
▪ Only when Maisie came to hold him and soothe his fears did he feel safe.
▪ She'd soothed the terrible empty fear and loneliness.
pain
▪ He needed me as unction to soothe his pain.
▪ She felt an aching need for Fernando to soothe away the pain of desire from her loins.
▪ Attention given or sold would be on tap; either would soothe this barren pain, this aching for contact.
▪ An almost frightening moral certainty swept over it and began to soothe its pain.
■ VERB
try
▪ Rain was trying to soothe the old woman.
▪ They tried to soothe him, pat him on his shoulder.
▪ She tried to soothe the girl, and Nina relaxed.
▪ Louise tried to soothe him and persuade him to drink the antiseptic draught which McNab had given her.
▪ His mouth caressed hers, sensuously, tenderly, trying to soothe her confusion.
▪ I stroke my beard, as if it were Timmy's brow, trying to soothe myself to sleep.
▪ Still, it was no big deal, she tried to soothe her conscience.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ A massage would soothe his aching muscles.
▪ Alcohol was the only thing she knew to soothe the pain of her divorce.
▪ Lucia soothed the baby with soft words and smiles.
▪ Maybe a drink would help soothe your nerves.
▪ When the baby cried, his mother soothed him by stroking his hot little head.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Bring a snack to soothe hunger or a beverage.
▪ Human reasoning fails to explain or soothe.
▪ I can get some tea to soothe my throat, wrap my knee if it hurts.
▪ It's designed to protect and soothe even the most sensitive male skins and prices start at £2.45.
▪ Next, hold the foot between both your hands for about a minute or two to soothe it.
▪ Shelley wiped her forehead, and soothed her.
▪ The man spoke quietly to the horse, soothing it.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Soothe

Soothe \Soothe\ (s[=oo][th]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Soothed; p. pr. & vb. n. Soothing.] [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so[eth]ien to verify, AS. ges[=o][eth]ian to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]

  1. To assent to as true. [Obs.]
    --Testament of Love.

  2. To assent to; to comply with; to gratify; to humor by compliance; to please with blandishments or soft words; to flatter.

    Good, my lord, soothe him, let him take the fellow.
    --Shak.

    I've tried the force of every reason on him, Soothed and caressed, been angry, soothed again.
    --Addison.

  3. To assuage; to mollify; to calm; to comfort; as, to soothe a crying child; to soothe one's sorrows.

    Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
    --Congreve.

    Though the sound of Fame May for a moment soothe, it can not slake The fever of vain longing.
    --Byron.

    Syn: To soften; assuage; allay; compose; mollify; tranquilize; pacify; mitigate.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
soothe

Old English soðian "show to be true," from soð "true" (see sooth). Sense of "quiet, comfort, mollify" is first recorded 1690s, via notion of "to assuage one by asserting that what he says is true" (i.e. to be a yes-man), a sense attested from 1560s (and compare Old English gesoð "a parasite, flatterer"). Meaning "reduce the intensity" (of a pain, etc.) is from 1711. Related: Soothed; soothing.

Wiktionary
soothe

vb. 1 (context transitive obsolete English) To prove true; verify; confirm as true. 2 (context transitive obsolete English) To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out. 3 (context transitive obsolete English) To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession. 4 (context transitive English) To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter. 5 (context transitive English) To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh. 6 (context transitive English) To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften. 7 (context transitive rare English) To smooth over; render less obnoxious. 8 (context transitive English) To calm or placate someone or some situation. 9 (context transitive English) To ease or relieve pain or suffering. 10 (context intransitive English) To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery. 11 (context intransitive English) To bring comfort or relief.

WordNet
soothe
  1. v. give moral or emotional strength to [syn: comfort, console, solace]

  2. cause to feel better; "the medicine soothes the pain of the inflammation" [ant: irritate]

Usage examples of "soothe".

Again that strange, glorious accent that reverberated through her like a warm, soothing caress.

Who, soothed to false repose by the fanning plumes above And the music-stirring motion of its soft and busy feet, Dream visions of aereal joy, and call the monster, Love, And wake, and find the shadow Pain, as he whom now we greet.

The soothing smells of Akasha wafted slowly into her psyche, like a balm to her soul.

He was soothing the buffaloes now by voice, and Akela had dropped far to the rear, only whimpering once or twice to hurry the rear-guard.

He yelped in a most unmaesterlike fashion, while Alayne turned to soothe the little lordling, but too late.

Robert succeeded in soothing him -- and the poor old lion is very quiet on the whole, roaring softly, to beguile the time, in Latin alcaics against his wife and Louis Napoleon.

Wrapping the reins more securely around his fist, Alec coaxed the nervous mare along with soothing words as her hooves struck loose stones.

Any gentleman, surely, by now, speaking reassuring, soothing words, averting his eyes from my beauty, would have hastened to release me from my predicament.

Our cook is a gentle, avuncular Muslim called Doud whose careful rhythm of prayer and cooking and cleaning washes like a balm from his small inferno behind the dining room and soothes in waves across our house.

A moment later Babbie was on his knee, hiding her emotion in the front of his jacket, and he was trying his best to soothe her with characteristic Winslow nonsense.

She may later become one of the babies and toddlers who is anxious, fussy, and difficult to soothe.

Very generally speaking, babies will cry 26 27 Hard-to-soothe Babies In almost every one of our groups there is a baby who has colic or is especially hard to soothe.

Out of the money paid by Tippoo the commander-in-chief made a spontaneous gift to his troops, equal to six months batta, in order to soothe them for the disappointment of their expectations of booty in the storming of Seringapatam, and for their good conduct during the war.

Ida was a tiny bit put out over this, as she and I had been bedfellows since I was a baby, but Aunt Queen soothed her so that she let it go.

The filing of the decree of the Senate had acted like a charm upon our Capo of the Ten: the importance thus accorded to the Ca' Giustiniani soothed every vestige of wounded pride, while the beauty and grace of his prospective daughter-in-law had filled him with a triumph which only the frigid stateliness of his habitual demeanor enabled him to conceal, so great was the revulsion from his former state of feeling.