Search the Dictionary

An epithet of respect or distinction; as, the honorable Senate; the honorable gentleman.

or promises desired good. The Lord will be the hope of his people. Joel iii. 16. A young gentleman of great hopes, whose love of learning was highly commendable. Macaulay.

To render human or humane; to soften; to make gentle by overcoming cruel dispositions and rude habits; to refine or civilize. Was it the business of magic to humanize our natures with compassion Addison.

Doing no injury; harmless; also, unhurt; without injury or harm. Gentle dame so hurtless and so true. Spenser. -- Hurt"less*ly, adv. -- Hurt"less*ness, n.

llustrated; distinguished; illustrious. [Obs.] This most gallant, illustrate, and learned gentleman. Shak.

nicate the knowledge of; to make known; to show by words or tokens; to tell; to disclose. Gentle lady, When I did first impart my love to you. Shak.

To control or move by power, physical or moral; to affect by gentle action; to exert an influence upon; to modify, bias, or sway; to move; to persuade; to induce. Theseexperiments succeed after the same manner in vacuo as in the open air,and therefore are not influenced by the weight or pressure of the atmosphere. Sir…

To introduce gently or slowly, as by a winding or narrow passage, or a gentle, persistent movement. The water easily insinuates itself into, and placidly distends, the vessels of vegetables. Woodward.

The act of gaining favor, affection, or influence, by gentle or artful means; -- formerly used in a good sense, as of friendly influence or interposition. Sir H. Wotton. I hope through the insinuation of Lord Scarborough to keep them here till further orders. Lady Cowper.

boor; a clown; also, a servant; a rustic. "Jack fool." Chaucer. Since every Jack became a gentleman, There 's many a gentle person made a Jack. Shak.

To quarrel in words; to altercate; to wrangle. Good wits will be jangling; but, gentles, agree. Shak. Prussian Trenck . . . jargons and jangles in an unmelodious manner. Carlyle.

under Jest, v. i. I must be sad . . . smile at no man's jests. Shak. The Right Honorable gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests, and to his imagination for his facts. Sheridan.

f hilarity or humor than jest); a jest; a witticism; as, to crack good-natured jokes. And gentle dullness ever loves a joke. Pope. Or witty joke our airy senses moves To pleasant laughter. Gay.

Proceeding from, or characterized by, goodness, gentleness, or benevolence; as, a kind act. "Manners so kind, yet stately." Tennyson.

The quality or state of being kindly; benignity; benevolence; gentleness; tenderness; as, kindliness of disposition, of treatment, or of words. In kind a father, but not in kindliness. Sackville.

Favorable; mild; gentle; auspicious; beneficent. In soft silence shed the kindly shower. Pope. Should e'er a kindlier time ensue. Wordsworth.

aucer. O murderous slumber, Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy That plays thee music Gentle knave, good night. Shak.

To make known; to manifest; to show; to declare. [Obs: or Scot.] For gentle hearte kytheth gentilesse. Chaucer.

An attending male servant; a footman; a servile follower. Like a Christian footboy or a gentleman's lackey. Shak. Lackey caterpillar (Zoöl.), the caterpillar, or larva, of any bombycid moth of the genus Clisiocampa; -- so called from its party- colored markings. The common European species (C. neustria) is striped with…

Ladylike; not rough; gentle. [Obs.] "Stroked with a ladied land." Feltham.