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To work diligently, as one who pegs shoes; -- usually with on, at, or away; as, to peg away at a task.

A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum.

To perform in a perfunctory manner; to do negligently. [R.]

To employ diligently; to use steadily. Go ply thy needle; meddle not. Shak.

d did not profit them. Heb. iv. 2. It is a great means of profiting yourself, to copy diligently excellent pieces and beautiful designs. Dryden.

ist or oppose effectually; as, to repel an assault, an encroachment, or an argument. [He] gently repelled their entreaties. Hawthorne.

To search or examine with continued care; to seek diligently.

To make a sound as of water running gently over a rough bottom, or the breaking of ripples on the shore.

To murmur; to ripple. To rumble gently down with murmur soft. Spenser.

A column, an obelisk, or other spire-shaped or columnar monument. Bid time and nature gently spare The shaft we raise to thee. Emerson.

To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil. I simmer as liquor doth on the fire before it beginneth to boil. Palsgrave.

To pass along smoothly or unobservedly; to move gently onward without friction or hindrance; as, a ship or boat slides through the water. Ages shall slide away without perceiving. Dryden. Parts answering parts shall slide into a whole. Pope.

Slightingly; negligently. [Obs.] Shak.

To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly. He tried to slip a powder into her drink. Arbuthnot.

Sloping. "Down the slope hills." Milton. A bank not steep, but gently slope. Bacon.

Gently flowing; moving equably; not ruffled or obstructed; as, a smooth stream.

Softly; without roughness or harshness; gently; quietly. Chaucer. A knight soft riding toward them. Spenser.

tself. [Obs.] "All of spirit would deprive." Spenser. The mild air, with season moderate, Gently attempered, and disposed eo well, That still it breathed foorth sweet spirit. Spenser.

To rib gently in one direction; especially, to pass the hand gently over by way of expressing kindness or tenderness; to caress; to soothe. He dried the falling drops, and, yet more kind, He stroked her cheeks. Dryden.

The act of rubbing gently with the hand, or of smoothing; a stroke. I doubt not with one gentle stroking to wipe away ten thousand tears. Milton.