1.
[syn: comfort, soothe, console, solace]
2. cause to feel better;
- Example: "the medicine soothes the pain of the inflammation"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. To assent to; to comply with; to gratify; to humor by
compliance; to please with blandishments or soft words; to
flatter.
[1913 Webster]
Good, my lord, soothe him, let him take the fellow.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
I've tried the force of every reason on him,
Soothed and caressed, been angry, soothed again.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
3. To assuage; to mollify; to calm; to comfort; as, to soothe
a crying child; to soothe one's sorrows.
[1913 Webster]
Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak. --Congreve.
[1913 Webster]
Though the sound of Fame
May for a moment soothe, it can not slake
The fever of vain longing. --Byron.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: To soften; assuage; allay; compose; mollify;
tranquilize; pacify; mitigate.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
soothe
v 1: give moral or emotional strength to [syn: comfort,
soothe, console, solace]
2: cause to feel better; "the medicine soothes the pain of the
inflammation" [ant: irritate]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
80 Moby Thesaurus words for "soothe":
abate, allay, alleviate, anesthetize, appease, assuage, balm,
becalm, benumb, calm, calm down, cease, comfort, compose,
conciliate, console, cool, cradle, cushion, deaden,
deaden the pain, defuse, die down, diminish, dulcify, dull,
dwindle, ease, ease matters, ebb, even out, foment, gentle,
give relief, halt, hush, lay, lay the dust, lessen, lull, mitigate,
molder, mollify, numb, pacify, pad, palliate, placate, poultice,
pour balm into, pour balm on, pour oil on, propitiate, quell,
quiesce, quiet, quieten, reduce, relieve, rest, rock,
rock to sleep, salve, settle, slacken, slake, smooth, smooth down,
smooth over, smoothen, soften, stabilize, steady, still, stop,
stupe, subdue, subside, tranquilize, wane