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same time turned inside out. The thread is able to penetrate the flesh of various small, soft-bodied animals, and carries a subtle poison by which they are speedily paralyzed and killed. The threads, at the same time, hold the prey in position, attached to the tentacles. Some of the jellyfishes, as the Portuguese man-…

, or decked, with laurel. Chaucer. To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies. Milton. Soft on her lap her laureate son reclines. Pope. Poet laureate. (b) One who received an honorable degree in grammar, including poetry and rhetoric, at the English universities; -- so called as being presented with a wreath of laur…

ower lays the dust. A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den. Dan. vi. 17. Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid. Milton.

A small branching shrub (Dirca palustris), with a white, soft wood, and a tough, leathery bark, common in damp woods in the Northern United States; -- called also moosewood, and wicopy. Gray.

Relaxing; emollient; softening; assuasive; -- some "Lenient of grief." Milton. Of relax the fibers, are lenient, balsamic. Arbuthnot. Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand. Pope.

To assuage; to soften; to Bacon. Dryden.

Having the quality of softening or mitigating, as pain or acrimony; assuasive; emollient.

or quality of being lenient; mildness of temper or disposition; gentleness of treatment; softness; tenderness; clemency; -- opposed to severity and rigor. His exceeding lenity disposes us to be somewhat too severe. Macaulay.

Without deep impression. The soft ideas of the cheerful note, Lightly received, were easily forgot. Prior.

A soft cheese made in the Belgian province of Limburg (Limbourg), and usually not eaten until the curing has developed a peculiar and, to most people, unpleasant odor.

Linen scraped or otherwise made into a soft, downy or fleecy substance for dressing wounds and sores; also, fine ravelings, down, fluff, or loose short fibers from yarn or fabrics. Lint doctor (Calico-printing Mach.), a scraper to remove lint from a printing cylinder.

To smooth; to soften; to palliate. [Obs.]

A diminution or softening of statement for the sake of avoiding censure or increasing the effect by contrast with the moderation shown in the form of expression; as, " a citizen of no mean city," that is, of an illustrious city.

To express or manifest by a look. Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again. Byron. To look daggers. See under Dagger. -- To look in the face, to face or meet with boldness or confidence; hence, sometimes, to meet for combat. -- To look out, to seek for; as, prudent persons look out associates good reputation.…

in the East Indies, Australia, New Guinea, and the adjacent islands. They feed mostly on soft fruits and on the honey of flowers.

a well; to lower a sail or a boat; sometimes, to pull down; as, to lower a flag. Lowered softly with a threefold cord of love Down to a silent grave. Tennyson.

e to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. " To lull him soft asleep." Spenser. Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie, To lull the daughters of necessity. Milton.

Of or pertaining to Lydia, a country of Asia Minor, or to its inhabitants; hence, soft; effeminate; -- said especially of one of the ancient Greek modes or keys, the music in which was of a soft, pathetic, or voluptuous character. Softly sweet in Lydian measures, Soon he soothed his soul to pleasures. Dryden. Lydian st…

Soft; flexible. [Obs.] Spenser.

To soften by steeping in a liquid, with or without heat; to wear away or separate the parts of by steeping; as, to macerate animal or vegetable fiber.