Search the Dictionary

To make better; to improve; to ameliorate; to soften; to make more tolerable. Nature by art we nobly meliorate. Denham. The pure and bening light of revelation has had a meliorating influence on mankind. Washington.

Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp; as, a mellow apple.

Soft; unctuous. Drayton.

Hence: To soften, as by a warming or kindly influence; to relax; to render gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken. Thou would'st have . . . melted down thy youth. Shak. For pity melts the mind to love. Dryden.

Thin and rather soft or pliable, as the leaves of the rose, peach tree, and aspen poplar.

Mnemonic; assisting the memory. This succession of Aspirate, Soft, and Hard, may be expressed by the memorial word ASH. Skeat. Memorial Day. Same as Decoration Day. [U.S.]

A substance of variable composition, but resembling a soft, dark-colored metal, used in the bearings of machines for obviating friction, and as a substitute for lubricants.

Soft; dainty. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Gentle; pleasant; kind; soft; bland; clement; hence, moderate in degree or quality; -- the opposite of harsh, severe, irritating, violent, disagreeable, etc.; -- applied to persons and things; as, a mild disposition; a mild eye; a mild air; a mild medicine; a mild insanity. The rosy morn resigns her light And milder gl…

roller having a design in relief, used for imprinting a reversed copy of the design in a softer metal, as copper.

, an elastic mineral pitch, a variety of bitumen, resembling caoutchouc in elasticity and softness. See Caoutchouc, and Elaterite. -- Mineral chameleon (Chem.) See Chameleon mineral, under Chameleon. -- Mineral charcoal. See under Charcoal. -- Mineral cotton. See Mineral wool (below). -- Mineral green, a green carb…

To make less severe, intense, harsh, rigorous, painful, etc.; to soften; to meliorate; to alleviate; to diminish; to lessen; as, to mitigate heat or cold; to mitigate grief.

To make a low prolonged sound of grief or pain, whether articulate or not; to groan softly and continuously. Unpitied and unheard, where misery moans. Thomson. Let there bechance him pitiful mischances, To make him moan. Shak.

A shoe made of deerskin, or other soft leather, the sole and upper part being one piece. It is the customary shoe worn by the American Indians.

To soften by making moist; to make tender. It moistened not his executioner's heart with any pity. Fuller.

A soft Tertiary sandstone; -- applied to a rock occurring in Switzerland. See Chart of Geology.

Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil.

Any insectivore of the family Talpidæ. They have minute eyes and ears, soft fur, and very large and strong fore feet.

Any fabric having a thick soft shag, like the fur of a mole; esp., a kind of strong twilled fustian.

Serving to soften; assuaging; emollient.