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To soften by heat and moisture; to expose to a gentle heat in a boiler or matrass, as a preparation for chemical operations.

ed, usually in water or other liquid, to a temperature above that of boiling, in order to soften them.

form the action of plunging some receptacle, as a dipper, ladle. etc.; into a liquid or a soft substance and removing a part. Whoever dips too deep will find death in the pot. L'Estrange.

The soft, spongy, or cancellated substance between the plates of the skull.

To lay open or expose to view; to cause to appear; to bring to light; to reveal. How softly on the Spanish shore she plays, Disclosing rock, and slope, and forest brown! Byron. Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose. Pope.

To convert into a liquid by means of heat, moisture, etc.,; to melt; to liquefy; to soften. As if the world were all dissolved to tears. Shak.

To drop; to fall in drops; to trickle. Soft showers distilled, and suns grew warm in vain. Pope.

ompounds, -- usually requiring a high degree of heat; as, the destructive distillation of soft coal or of wood. -- Dry distillation, the distillation of substances by themselves, or without the addition of water or of other volatile solvent; as, the dry distillation of citric acid. -- Fractional distillation. (Chem.)…

Set, sung, or composed as a ditty; -- usually in composition. Who, with his soft pipe, and smooth-dittied song. Milton.

A firm woolen cloth with a smooth, soft surface like a doe's skin; -- made for men's wear.

Softly; sweetly; with soft, smooth, and delicate execution.

Paste of bread; a soft mass of moistened flour or meal, kneaded or unkneaded, but not yet baked; as, to knead dough.

Like dough; soft. He demeans himself . . . like a dough-kneaded thing. Milton.

Like dough; soft and heavy; pasty; crude; flabby and pale; as, a doughy complexion.

Fine, soft, hairy outgrowth from the skin or surface of animals or plants, not matted and fleecy like wool; esp.:

Covered with down, or with pubescence or soft hairs. "A downy feather." Shak. Plants that . . . have downy or velvet rind upon their leaves. Bacon.

A steel instrument for completing the dressing of soft stone.

e draped professionally. De Quincey. These starry blossoms, [of the snow] pure and white, Soft falling, falling, through the night, Have draped the woods and mere. Bungay.

As if in a dream; softly; slowly; languidly. Longfellow.

Capable of being elongated or drawn out, as into wire or threads. Gold . . . is the softest and most ductile of all metals. Dryden. -- Duc"tile*ly, adv. -- Duc"tile*ness, n.