ease

[ eez ]

/ iz /

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See synonyms for: ease / eased / easing on Thesaurus.com

noun

freedom from labor, pain, or physical annoyance; tranquil rest; comfort: to enjoy one's ease.

freedom from concern, anxiety, or solicitude; a quiet state of mind: to be at ease about one's health.

freedom from difficulty or great effort; facility: It can be done with ease.

freedom from financial need; plenty: a life of ease on a moderate income.

freedom from stiffness, constraint, or formality; unaffectedness: ease of manner; the ease and elegance of her poetry.

verb (used with object), eased, eas·ing.

to free from anxiety or care: to ease one's mind.

to mitigate, lighten, or lessen: to ease pain.

to release from pressure, tension, or the like.

to move or shift with great care: to ease a car into a narrow parking space.

to render less difficult; facilitate: I'll help if it will ease your job.

to provide (an architectural member) with an easement.

Shipbuilding. to trim (a timber of a wooden hull) so as to fair its surface into the desired form of the hull.

Nautical.

to bring (the helm or rudder of a vessel) slowly amidships.
to bring the head of (a vessel) into the wind.
to slacken or lessen the hold upon (a rope).
to lessen the hold of (the brake of a windlass).

verb (used without object), eased, eas·ing.

to abate in severity, pressure, tension, etc. (often followed by off or up).

to become less painful, burdensome, etc.

to move, shift, or be moved or be shifted with great care.

Verb Phrases

ease out, to remove from a position of authority, a job, or the like, especially by methods intended to be tactful: He was eased out as division head to make way for the boss's nephew.

OTHER WORDS FOR ease

1 repose, contentment, effortlessness.

2 tranquility, serenity, calmness, peace.

5 naturalness, informality.

6 comfort, relieve, disburden; tranquilize, soothe.

7 alleviate, assuage, allay, abate, reduce.

See synonyms for ease on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR ease

1 discomfort, effort.

2 disturbance.

5 stiffness, formality, tenseness.

See antonyms for ease on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about ease

at ease, Military. a position of rest in which soldiers may relax but may not leave their places or talk.

Origin of ease

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English ese, eise<Anglo-French ese,Old French aise, eise comfort, convenience <Vulgar Latin *adjace(m), accusative of *adjacēs vicinity (compare Medieval Latin in aiace in (the) vicinity), the regular outcome of Latin adjacēnsadjacent, taken in VL as a noun of the type nūbēs, accusative nūbem cloud; (v.) Middle English esen<Anglo-French e(i)ser,Old French aisier, derivative of the noun

synonym study for ease

1. Ease, comfort refer to a sense of relaxation or of well-being. Ease implies a relaxed condition with an absence of effort or pressure: a life of ease. Comfort suggests a sense of well-being, along with ease, which produces a quiet happiness and contentment: comfort in one's old age.

OTHER WORDS FROM ease

self-ease, nounself-easing, adjectivewell-eased, adjective

Words nearby ease

earwigging, earwitness, earworm, ear wrap, EAS, ease, easeful, easel, easement, ease off, ease out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ease in a sentence

That ease means that creators often have multiple Carrds under their belt, creating a sub-economy of design tips and art.
The internet of protest is being built on single-page websites|Tanya Basu|August 27, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Cellebrite says it can “unlock devices with ease” by finding vulnerabilities in targeted smartphones and exploiting them.
Israeli phone hacking company faces court fight over sales to Hong Kong|Patrick O'Neill|August 25, 2020|MIT Technology Review
“The ease with which companies can be incorporated under state law, and how little information is generally required about the company’s owners or activities, raises concerns about a lack of transparency,” the report said.
Federal Prosecutors Have Steve Bannon’s Murky Nonprofit in Their Sights|by Yeganeh Torbati|August 24, 2020|ProPublica
Unlike masks, which can fall off the ears, outdoor runners and cyclists enjoy the ease of pulling buffs up as they pass the occasional dog-walker or fellow jogger, and then down again once they’re alone.
Don’t give up on your buff just yet|Katherine Ellen Foley|August 12, 2020|Quartz

Blow-by drives, where a player dribbles past a defender with ease, are also up slightly.
The Suns And Mavs Shouldn’t Have Surprised Us … But We Didn’t See T.J. Warren Coming|Chris Herring (chris.herring@fivethirtyeight.com)|August 5, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Normality, domesticity, ease, in the blazing Arizona desert.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As it stands, the deal will ease the travel ban and trade embargo, and make it easier for Americans to do business in Cuba.
Cuba Is A Kleptocracy, Not Communist|Romina Ruiz-Goiriena|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This deal will greatly ease a travel ban and the trade embargo, and make it easier for Americans to do business in Cuba.
Up To Speed: The Cuba Embargo|Nina Strochlic|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In no previous era in human history had one country ever completely dominated world finance with such ease.
How WWI Produced the Holocaust|J.P. O’Malley|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She appears calmer, more at ease, since the last time I sat down with her in 2008.
Annie Lennox Doesn’t Give a Damn What You Think|Itay Hod|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Where the outside conditions are not very favourable, practically all the British species may be grown with ease under glass.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
See the ease and grace of the lady in the sacque, who sits on the bank there, under the myrtles, with the guitar on her lap!
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Tressan was monstrous ill-at-ease, and his face lost a good deal of its habitual plethora of colour.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
In this way it will be managed with less offense and with more ease to the conscience than now.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Uriah said it would dishonour him to seek ease and pleasure at home while other soldiers were enduring hardship at the front.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford

British Dictionary definitions for ease

ease

/ (iːz) /

noun

freedom from discomfort, worry, or anxiety

lack of difficulty, labour, or awkwardness; facility

rest, leisure, or relaxation

freedom from poverty or financial embarrassment; affluencea life of ease

lack of restraint, embarrassment, or stiffnesshis ease of manner disarmed us

at ease military

(of a standing soldier, etc) in a relaxed position with the feet apart and hands linked behind the back
a command to adopt such a position
in a relaxed attitude or frame of mind

verb

to make or become less burdensome

(tr) to relieve (a person) of worry or care; comfort

(tr) to make comfortable or give rest to

(tr) to make less difficult; facilitate

to move or cause to move into, out of, etc, with careful manipulationto ease a car into a narrow space

(when intr, often foll by off or up) to lessen or cause to lessen in severity, pressure, tension, or strain; slacken, loosen, or abate

ease oneself or ease nature archaic, euphemistic to urinate or defecate

ease the helm nautical to relieve the pressure on the rudder of a vessel, esp by bringing the bow into the wind

Derived forms of ease

easer, noun

Word Origin for ease

C13: from Old French aise ease, opportunity, from Latin adjacēns neighbouring (area); see adjacent

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with ease

ease

In addition to the idioms beginning with ease

ease off
ease out

also see:

at ease
ill at ease

Also see undereasilyeasy.

ease

OTHER WORDS FOR ease

OPPOSITES FOR ease

Idioms about ease

Origin of ease

synonym study for ease

OTHER WORDS FROM ease

Words nearby ease

Words related to ease

How to use ease in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ease

Derived forms of ease

Word Origin for ease

Other Idioms and Phrases with ease