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The act of soothing; that which soothes. Feltham.

seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, and were formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; -- called also dill-seed. Dr. Prior.

Funereal; moaning. Soothed sadly by the dirgeful wind. Coleridge.

Made of, or resembling, down. Hence, figuratively: Soft; placid; soothing; quiet. "A downy shower." Keble. "Downy pillow." Pope. Time steals on with downy feet. Young.

To make sweet; to soothe. [Obs.]

A species of tern, esp. the sooty tern (Sterna fuliginosa) of the West Indies. In the Bahama Islands the name is applied to the tropic bird, Phaëthon flavirostris.

Age; esp., old age. [Obs. or Archaic] As sooth is said, eelde hath great avantage. Chaucer. Great Nature, ever young, yet full of eld. Spenser.

To bathe; to soothe or lull as by bathing. [Obs.] Spenser.

An external something or soothing application to allay irritation, soreness, etc.

ak. Not only the finest gentleman of his time, but one of the finest scholars. Felton. To soothe the sick bed of so fine a being [Keats]. Leigh Hunt.

The condition or quality of being fuliginous; sootiness; matter deposited by smoke. [R.]

Pertaining to soot; sooty; dark; dusky.

Soft; not violent or rough; not strong, loud, or disturbing; easy; soothing; pacific; as, a gentle touch; a gentle gallop. "Gentle music." Sir J. Davies. O sleep! it is a gentle thing. Coleridge. The gentle craft, the art or trade of shoemaking.

Real; actual; serious; as in the phrases in good earnest; in good sooth. Love no man in good earnest. Shak.

To please; to give pleasure to; to satisfy; to soothe; to indulge; as, to gratify the taste, the appetite, the senses, the desires, the mind, etc. For who would die to gratify a foe Dryden.

uffinus; esp., P. major, the greater shearwarter, and P. Stricklandi, the black hagdon or sooty shearwater; -- called also hagdown, haglin, and hag. See Shearwater.

It was often contrasted with the bower, which was the private or sleeping apartment. Full sooty was her bower and eke her hall. Chaucer. Hence, as the entrance from outside was directly into the hall:

Prognostication; soothsaying. [Obs.] Cockeram.

Tending to cure; soothing; mollifying; as, the healing art; a healing salve; healing words. Here healing dews and balms abound. Keble.

To help on by indulgence or compliant treatment; to soothe; to gratify; to please. You humor me when I am sick. Pope.