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or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [Obs.] He stirred the coals till relente gan The wax again the fire. Chaucer. [Salt of tartar] placed in a cellar will . . . begin to relent. Boyle. When opening buds salute the welcome day, And earth, relenting, feels the genial ray. Pope.

mpathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism. For this the avenging power employs his darts,.. Thus will persist, relentless in his ire. Dryden. -- Re*lent"less*ly, adv. -- Re*lent"less*ness, n.…

The act or process of retenting; the state of having relented. Sir T. Browne.

Not relenting; unyielding; rigid; hard; stern; cruel. -- Un`re*lent"ing*ly, adv. -- Un`re*lent"ing*ness, n.

of; as, to arrest the current of a river; to arrest the senses. Nor could her virtues the relentless hand Of Death arrest. Philips.

To recur in regular course. (b) To recover. [Colloq.] (c) To change, as the wind. (d) To relent. J. H. Newman.

in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Ps. vi. 1. Undoubtedly he will relent, and turn From his displeasure. Milton.

See Forlend. [Obs.] As if that life to losse they had forelent. Spenser.

d or moved by entreaty or prayer; firm; determined; unyielding; unchangeable; inflexible; relentless; as, an inexorable prince or tyrant; an inexorable judge. "Inexorable equality of laws." Gibbon. "Death's inexorable doom." Dryden. You are more inhuman, more inexorable, O, ten times more than tigers of Hyrcania. Shak.…

Incapable of being mollified or appeased; relentless; implacable. [Archaic] "Inexpiable hate." Milton. They are at inexpiable war with all establishments. Burke.

te or engrave; to mark down as something to be read; to imprint. Inscribe a verse on this relenting stone. Pope.

Inflexible; unrelenting; as, an iron will.

Pertaining to, or resembling, the devil Mephistopheles, "a crafty, scoffing, relentless fiend;" devilish; crafty.

Hooker. Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel, Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth Shak.

alty, or the like; to absolve; to acquit. There may no gold them quyte. Chaucer. God will relent, and quit thee all his debt. Milton.

To feel pain, sorrow, or regret, for what one has done or omitted to do. First she relents With pity; of that pity then repents. Dryden.

Stiffness of opinion or temper; rugged sternness; hardness; relentless severity; hard-heartedness; cruelty. All his rigor is turned to grief and pity. Denham. If I shall be condemn'd Upon surmises, . . . I tell you 'T is rigor and not law. Shak.

rigor; allowing no abatement or mitigation; scrupulously accurate; exact; strict; severe; relentless; as, a rigorous officer of justice; a rigorous execution of law; a rigorous definition or demonstration. He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian Rock With rigorous hands. Shak. We do not connect the scattered phenomena int…

hat too heavenly form . . . snare them. Milton. The mournful crocodile With sorrow snares relenting passengers. Shak.

f nature, manner, or aspect; hard; severe; rigid; rigorous; austere; fixed; unchanging; unrelenting; hence, serious; resolute; harsh; as, a sternresolve; a stern necessity; a stern heart; a stern gaze; a stern decree. The sterne wind so loud gan to rout. Chaucer. I would outstare the sternest eyes that look. Shak. When…