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单词 soft
释义

softn.

Brit. /sɒft/, U.S. /sɔft/, /sɑft/
Forms: see soft adj.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: soft adj.
Etymology: < soft adj.In sense 8 after Russian mjagkij (1903 in this sense). N.E.D. (1913) gives the pronunciation as (sǫ̀ft) /sɒft/, /sɔːft/ (see discussion at soft adj.).
1.
a. The quality of being soft and yielding; softness. Also: that which presents a yielding surface to the touch; that which is soft. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > [noun]
neshnesseOE
softnessOE
softc1225
neshheadc1350
softheadc1350
tendernessa1387
teneritudec1440
tenerity1623
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > [noun] > that which is soft
nesheOE
softc1225
c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. F) l. 23 Al biþ þet softe iwend to him sulfen þet ne mawen his pil[es pri]kien hine sore.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 28 (MED) Þe skyn is maad temperat, for he schulde knowe hoot, coold, moist, & drie, soft, hard, scharp, & smoþe.
c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 184 (MED) Þe wytt qwych is in þe hande is in þe strenght of towchyng or gropyng, and þe cours þer-of is in hete or cold, scharp and soft.
?1520 J. Rastell Nature .iiii. Element sig. B.iiiv What pleasure therin can be By the towchynge of soft & harde Of hote or colde.
1593 B. Barnes Parthenophil & Parthenophe 128 Oh loues, soft hilles how much I wonder you?.. How much at your smooth soft my sence amazed is.
1624 ‘E. Orandus’ tr. Artephius in tr. N. Flamel Expos. Hieroglyphicall Figures St. Innocent's Church-yard 175 The hot is mixed with the cold, the dry with the moist, and the hard with the soft.
1658 tr. M. C. de La Chambre Disc. Knowledg of Beasts iii. 83 Having conceived a thing which is white, soft, sweet, and good to eat; she may stop at the white, at the soft, at the sweet, at the good to eat, without considering them all together.
1686 T. Nourse Disc. Nature & Faculties Man xix. 169 I would gladly have a Description of these different Impressions of hard and soft, &c.
1767 W. Harte Amaranth 105 Where hot, and cold, the rough, and lenient fight, The hard, and soft, the heavy, and the light.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 417 Nor does he spare the soft And succulent, that feeds its giant growth.
1826 A. Henderson Pract. Grazier v. 278 [It] resembles the pressing gently between the finger and thumb a little butter (free from the extremes of hard and soft) covered with a piece of thin linen cloth.
1852 J. R. Ballantyne Aphor. Sánkhya Philos. (1885) 160 Combinedness consists in the Qualities' making some product by their state of mutual commixture;..combinedness is the state of the soft and the hard.
1909 R. W. Service Ballads of Cheechako (1910) 63 Once on the forehead of Philo, twice in the soft of his cheek.
1986 J. Hobhouse November 95 Sheltering in the soft of his mother's breast and belly, as her spine curved a shell around him.
2007 N. H. Reily Georgia O'Keeffe i. 162 Color is a means of representation..of the hard and of the soft; of the corporeal and of the spacious.
b. The soft part of something. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > [noun] > that which is soft > soft part
soft?a1425
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 38 (MED) Wiþ cauteriez punctale vpon þe molle or þe softe of heued [?c1425 Paris molde of þe hede; L. molle capitis].
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things ix. 249 Geue therof at night two round pyls..in the soft of a roasted apple.
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 63 All this enclosed space is commonly called the soft of the Thumb.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 130 His two fore-feet, which he had thrust so into the soft of her sides, as to make two deep doaks there.
1759 W. Verral Compl. Syst. Cookery 16 The soft of a French roll well soak'd in a little broth.
1861 J. Wylde Magic of Sci. 82 Boil the soft of the bread for some time in water.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxviii. 120 Not to a grandsire old.., so lovely the grandson One dear daughter alone rears i' the soft of his years.
1954 Alice (Texas) Daily Echo 16 Dec. 5/2 Wet the soft of the bread and squeeze thoroughly till you have one cup.
2000 Kenyon Rev. Summer 104 He buries his face in the soft of her neck.
†2. That which is agreeable, pleasant, or easy; (also) comfort, ease. As a count noun: an agreeable or pleasant activity, situation, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > physical comfort > [noun]
softa1400
makandec1450
self-ease1590
easefulnessa1639
snugness1766
comfortableness1783
comfort1814
cosiness1834
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 15564 Bot sal we elles suffre samen, bath soft and sare.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 3446 For though thou loue thus euermore To me is neither softe ne soore.
1578 J. Phillips Commemoration Countis of Lennox sig. C.ivv Where he most firmely sought safts to buylde, Most soonest of all my Sonne was beguilde.
?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron Of Wisdome i. v. 20 In Spaine the chiefest beautie is leane and neatly compt; in Italie fat, corpulent and solid: the soft, and delicate, and flattering please the one; the strong [Fr. la molle], vigorous, fierce, and commanding the other.
1677 A. Horneck Great Law of Consideration iv. 95 They are afraid it will..discompose them in their golden dreams, drive them from their softs and ease.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela (ed. 2) I. Introd. p. xxx The Author has put so bewitching a Mixture together, of the Rais'd with the Natural, and the Soft with the Strong and the Eloquent.
1839 Sporting Rev. Aug. 135 The landscape around Vevay..contrasts the wild with the beautiful, harmonizes the savage with the sunny, and blends the soft with the sublime.
3. With the and plural agreement. Those people who are soft (in various senses); soft people as a class.
ΚΠ
1638 R. Brathwait Spiritual Spicerie 175 O solace to the poore! O, shame to the rich! O strength to the penitent! O condemnation to the soft and delicate!
1657 T. Manton Pract. Comm. Jude vii. 330 The soft or effeminate shall not enter into the Kingdom of God.
1678 N. Tate Brutus of Alba ii. 12 This Protean Love Sighs with the Silent, with the Frolick smiles, Weeps with the Soft, and in the Souldier storms.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 194/1 The soft lamented, and the brave approv'd.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 162. ⁋5 Many..who select for friendship and confidence not..the virtuous, but the soft, the civil, and compliant.
1837 E. S. Wortley Impressions of Italy 234 What fit hath seized upon the young and old, The soft, the stern,—the bashful and the bold—The gay and serious, and the great and small?
2000 E. Russo in D. L. Rubin et al. Rethinking Cultural Stud. 97 We, the intuitive, the soft, the empathetic, have searched in so many places for something to prop ourselves up with.
4.
†a. In plural. Soft fabrics; (in later use) spec. soft woollen rags. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. vi. 29) 242 Great ones may go arraied according to their state: and they that are in Kings houses wear softs.
1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins II. ix. 76 I asked him, if they were used to lie on the bare Stone. He told me, some did; but he had orders to lay me on Dossee [Softs]; and presently up came four Fellows with great Mats.
1828 R. Badnall View Silk Trade 43 Oz. 12 1/2 to 14 1/2 in softs.
1860 S. Jubb Hist. Shoddy-trade 34 Turkey and Russia also furnish low coarse softs.
1898 Amer. Wool & Cotton Reporter 3 Nov. 1360/1 Soft woolen rags.—Softs are slightly weaker in price than they have been, although graded stock has not decreased as well.
1922 Fibre & Fabric 24 Oct. 28/3 Close to 14.00 cents was paid by a local grader for red softs.
b. slang. Bank notes collectively; paper money; (in early use) spec. counterfeit notes. Also in plural.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > [noun]
paper money1669
bank paper1696
paper1704
rag1797
scrieve1800
rag money1808
soft1809
soft currency1837
stamps1872
scratch1914
folding money1930
ready1937
1809 Weekly Entertainer 11 Sept. 737 The cant terms for false notes are softs and screens; and of counterfeit gold, yellows.
1821 P. Egan Life in London i. iii. 47 Or even smiled with indifference at the rolls of soft which his most captivating fancy-piece drew from him repeatedly.
?1851 G. Thompson Life & Exploits Noted Criminal, Bristol Bill xii. 36/2 Kate, with her sweet face and winning ways,..proved very successful in ‘passing the soft’.
1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 24. 115 Paper money is known, in general, as scratch or soft.
1987 Observer 21 June 59/4 Squads of boiler-suited builders cashing rolls and rolls of soft.
2009 D. Paymar et al. Professional Poker Dealer (ed. 3) 252 The dealer calls for a ‘soft break’ (part chips and part ‘soft’ or cash).
c. Coal Mining. In plural. Coal that is less hard than other kinds and easily split; spec. coal of a lower rank (rank n.1 10), such as brown coal and lignite; = soft coal n. at soft adj. Compounds 2a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun]
coal1253
sea-coal1253
pit-coal1483
cannel1541
earth coala1552
horse coal1552
Newcastle coal1552
stone-coal1585
cannel coal1587
parrot1594
burn-coal1597
lithanthrax1612
stony coal1617
Welsh coala1618
land-coala1661
foot coal1665
peacock coal1686
rough coal1686
white coal1686
heathen-coalc1697
coal-stone1708
round1708
stone-coal1708
bench-coal1712
slipper coal1712
black coal1713
culm1742
rock coal1750
board coal1761
Bovey coal1761
house coal1784
mineral coal1785
splint1789
splint coal1789
jet coal1794
anthracite1797
wood-coal1799
blind-coal1802
black diamond1803
silk-coal1803
glance-coal1805
lignite1808
Welsh stone-coal1808
soft1811
spout coals1821
spouter1821
Wallsend1821
brown coal1833
paper coal1833
steam-coal1850
peat-coal1851
cherry-coal1853
household1854
sinter coal1854
oil coal1856
raker1857
Kilkenny coal1861
Pottery coal1867
silkstone1867
block coal1871
admiralty1877
rattlejack1877
bunker1883
fusain1883
smitham1883
bunker coal1885
triping1886
trolley coal1890
kibble1891
sea-borne1892
jet1893
steam1897
sack coal1898
Welsh1898
navigation coal1900
Coalite1906
clarain1919
durain1919
vitrain1919
single1921
kolm1930
hards1956
1811 J. Farey Gen. View Agric. Derbyshire I. 249 Such [faults] are often called soft-veins, or said to be filled with softs.
1894 Times 17 Apr. 4/5 The best demand was for nuts,..but Barnsley softs were again to be had at from 7s. 6d. to 8s.
1916 Coal Trade Bull. 16 Oct. 47/2 In the case of a slab of ‘softs’, it was found almost impossible to obtain a slab free from cracks, owing to the fragile character of this coal.
2015 J. G. Speight Handbk. Coal Anal. (ed. 2) ix. 232 Barnsley softs.
d. In plural. Soft commodities (see soft adj. 27).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > perishable goods
softs1872
perishables1895
soft goods1908
1872 Commerc. & Financial Chron. 23 Nov. 686/1 Hards are off fully a quarter, while softs have declined to even a greater extent.
1979 Financial Times 28 Mar. 37/1 Will ‘softs’ boom next?
1981 Times 5 May 17/2 Softs are less homogeneous in outlook because crop conditions vary so much.
2010 Independent 31 Dec. 27/5 Prices for so-called ‘softs’, such as foodstuffs and cotton, have shot up this year.
5. Phonetics. Originally (in Welsh): †a voiced stop or fricative produced by soft mutation (soft mutation n. at soft adj. Compounds 2a) (obsolete). Later more generally: a soft consonant (cf. soft adj. 24). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > consonant > [noun] > voiced
vocal1669
soft1727
1727 W. Gambold Welsh Gram. iii. 4 We shall have frequent Occasions to distinguish words beginning with the mutable Consonants..by their Radicals, Softs, Liquids, and Aspirates.
1753 T. Richards Introd. Anc. Brit., or Welsh Lang. xxvii. 57 Changing the Initials of mau and tau, to their Softs, if their Substantives be Feminines.
1846 M. Williams Elem. Gram. Sanscrit 10 The soft is changed to its unaspirated hard.
1871 E. A. Abbott & J. R. Seeley Eng. Lessons for Eng. People 43 Aspirates and softs..are modified in a corresponding manner.
1942 V. Nabokov Let. in S. Karlinsky Dear Bunny (2001) 78 Henry Sweet in the article on Phonetics in the Encyclopaedia Britannica confirms my opinion that in Russian all the vowels tend to be long. What we do with longs and shorts you do with softs and hards.
1991 G. Wolf tr. M. J. A. Bréal Beginnings Semantics 240 It is scarcely credible that a people would have willingly disfigured the sounds of its language, substituting as if by whim hards for softs [Fr. douces], aspirates for hards, and softs for aspirates.
6. U.S. Politics. Chiefly with capital initial.
a. In the 1840s and 1850s: a supporter of paper currency as a national standard, in opposition to Senator Thomas Benton of Missouri (cf. hard n. 5b). Now historical.Sometimes overlapping with sense 6b.
ΚΠ
1843 J. S. Robb Streaks Squatter Life 91 Hards, softs, whigs and Tylerites were represented.
1844 Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) 28 Mar. The hards and the softs in Ohio, as well as in Missouri, are more bitter towards each other.
1863 H. S. Knapp Hist. Ashland County 248 The Democratic party at that time were divided upon the question of ‘hard’ or ‘paper money,’ and the Democrat was the organ of the ‘hards,’ and the Standard of the ‘softs’.
1952 R. L. Ramsay Our Storehouse 66 Leading..the ‘Hards’ to victory over the ‘Softs,’ who stood for a liberal issue of paper money by the wildcat banks.
2005 L. Porter Politics & Peril 59 Democrats split into Hard Money Democrats (specie-gold or silver) and Soft Money Democrats (‘rag’ or paper money)..the ‘Hards’ voted for Martin Van Buren, and the ‘Softs’ for Lewis Cass.
b. A member of the less conservative of the two factions into which the Democratic Party in New York state was divided in 1852 and subsequent years; a Softshell (see softshell n. 2b). Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [noun] > other parties > members or adherents of
liberty man1705
monocrat1792
federal1796
National Republican1828
rummy1840
Native American1844
free-soiler1848
know-nothing1853
soft1853
tea partier2009
society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [noun] > Democratic Party > member or adherent of > of branch of
loco-foco1835
loco1838
O.K.1840
hard1843
softshell1845
barn-burner1848
hardshell1852
soft1853
softshell1853
Bourbon1859
short-hairs1867
New Dem1962
Blue Dog1995
1853 N. Y. Herald 4 June We should say it was about time to have a definite understanding of some sort between the hardshells and the softs.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xlvi. 203 The Hunkers and Barnburners who divided the Democratic party forty years ago, and subsequently passed into the ‘Hards’ and the ‘Softs’.
1922 W. F. Johnson & R. B. Smith Polit. & Governmental Hist. State N.Y. II. xxv. 398 The Barnburners were called ‘Softshells’ or ‘Softs’ because they were accused of being trimmers for the sake of popular favor.
2007 P. A. Wallner Franklin Pierce II. i. 16 The more moderate Democrats, known as the ‘Softshells’ or ‘Softs’.
†7. colloquial (chiefly English regional). A simple or foolish person. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > [noun] > simpleton
innocentc1386
greenhead1576
gonyc1580
ninnyhammer1592
chicken1600
loach1605
simplician1605
hichcock1607
smelt1607
foppasty1611
dovea1616
goslinga1616
funge1621
simplicity1633
gewgaw1634
squab1640
simpletonian1652
ninny-whoop1653
softhead1654
foppotee1663
greenhorn1672
sumph1682
sawney1699
sillyton1708
gaby?1746
gobbin?1746
green goose1768
nin-a-kin1787
Jacob1811
green1824
sillikin1832
greeny1834
softhorn1836
sucker1838
softie1850
dope1851
soft1854
verigreen1854
peanut1864
daftie1872
josser1886
naïf1891
yapc1894
barm-stick1924
knobhead1931
sook1933
nig-nog1953
sawn1953
pronk1959
stiffy1965
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 192 Saaft or soft, a simple, silly person. ‘He's quite a saaft.’
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. ix. 180 It'll do you no good to sit in a spring-cart o' your own, if you've got a soft to drive you.
1898 Cornhill Mag. Nov. 712 Oh! what a soft tha art, lad! Wheer tha get a' thi notions fro' puzzles me.
1901 E. G. Hayden Trav. round Village xii. 192 The girt lot o' young safts!
8. A Menshevik. Cf. soft adj. 21c. Now historical and rare.In quot. 1930: Mensheviks collectively.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > Russian politics > [noun] > Menshevism > Menshevik
Menshevik1906
minimalist1906
Menshevist1919
soft1930
1930 tr. L.Trotsky My Life xii. 160 The division between the ‘hard’ and the ‘soft’ [Rus. mjagkie] was apparent.
1950 E. H. Carr Bolshevik Revol. I. ii. 30 But the withdrawal of seven delegates who had voted with the ‘softs’..had the result of shifting the balance of votes in favour of the ‘hards’.
1955 H. Hodgkinson Doubletalk 17 Lenin's group..was described as ‘Iskraists’..or ‘hards’... Its rivals were ‘softs’, because it approached the membership problem in the spirit of Martov's ‘The more people there are called Party members, the better it will be’.
2008 A. Read World on Fire 3 Lenin initially called his group ‘Hards’ and his opponents ‘Softs’, names which accurately reflected their characters.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

softadj.

Brit. /sɒft/, U.S. /sɔft/, /sɑft/
Forms:

α. Old English–early Middle English soft- (in derivatives), Old English–1600s softe, early Middle English sohte (see note), Middle English soffte, Middle English zofte (south-eastern), Middle English–1500s sofft, Middle English– soft, late Middle English souffte, late Middle English soufte, late Middle English soyft, late Middle English soyfte, 1800s softher (English regional (Yorkshire), comparative); Scottish pre-1700 sofft, pre-1700 softe, pre-1700 1700s– soft.

β. 1500s saft, 1500s safte, 1500s sauft (Hampshire), 1600s saufte; English regional 1800s saaft, 1800s saft, 1800s–1900s zaft (south-western); Scottish pre-1700 safte, pre-1700 1700s– saft; Irish English 1800s zaft (Wexford), 1800s– saft (northern).

Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: sefte adj.
Etymology: Apparently an alteration of sefte adj. (see discussion at that entry) after soft adv.In Old English a strong nominative singular masculine sōfte is once attested, showing final -e after sēfte sefte adj.; otherwise only inflected forms are attested. The unmutated stem form sōft- is also attested in Old English derivatives, as sōftnes softness n., unsōftlīce (see softly adv.). Notes on forms. In the early Middle English form sohte (several times in the Otho manuscript of Laȝamon's Brut) perhaps a genuine phonetic variant (/xt/ for /ft/). Specific senses. sefte adj. is attested earlier in senses 3 and 15; earlier currency of sefte adj. in sense 2b is also implied by use of Old English sēftnes in sense ‘quietness of voice’. In use with reference to the pulse (see sense 10b) after post-classical Latin pulsus mollis (13th cent. in a British source). In use with reference to vowels and consonants in Slavonic languages (see sense 24) ultimately after post-classical Latin mollis (15th cent. in a Polish source); compare Russian mjagkij (18th cent. in this sense). With sense 5 compare earlier soft adv. 3. In senses 2a and 2c probably partly after classical Latin suāvis suave adj. In use with reference to railway accommodation in Russia and China (see sense 8c) respectively after Russian mjagkij soft (in mjagkij vagon , lit. ‘soft car’ (1914 or earlier)) and Chinese ruǎn soft (in e.g. ruǎnzuò , also ruǎnxí , both lit. ‘soft seat’, ruǎnwò , lit. ‘soft berth’), both with reference to upholstered seats and beds. Compare soft adv. 1c and hard adj. 1c(b). With sense 29b compare earlier soft focus adj. and soft focus n. In use in electronics (see sense 32a(a) after German weich, lit. ‘soft’ (W. C. Röntgen 1897, in Sitzungsber. d. K. Preuss. Akad. d. Wissensch. zu Berlin 584). Pronunciation. N.E.D. (1913) gives the pronunciation as (sǫ̀ft) /sɒft/, /sɔːft/. Pronunciation with the long vowel, first evidenced towards the end of the 17th cent., was common in the 19th cent., but is now rare and largely restricted to older speakers.
I. Pleasing, agreeable, and related senses.
1. Producing agreeable or pleasant sensations; characterized by ease and quiet enjoyment; of a calm or placid character; spec. (of sleep) undisturbed, untroubled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > [adjective] > pleasing to the senses
lithec888
fairOE
softOE
lickerousc1275
deliciousa1325
kindlya1382
favourablea1398
kinda1398
sugared1426
feelsomea1450
agreeablec1450
comfortablec1460
favourousc1485
grateful1553
sugar candy1575
lickerish1595
savouring1595
maumy1728
tasty1796
lekker1900
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adjective]
stillc825
tamec888
nesheOE
mildeOE
softOE
lithea1000
daftc1000
methefulOE
sefteOE
meekc1175
benign1377
pleasablea1382
mytha1400
tendera1400
unfelona1400
mansuetea1425
meeta1425
gentlec1450
moy1487
placablea1522
facile1539
effeminate1594
silver1596
mildya1603
unmalicious1605
uncruel1611
maliceless1614
tender-hefteda1616
unpersecutive1664
baby-milda1845
rose water1855
turtlish1855
unvindictive1857
soft-boiled1859
tenderful1901
soft-lining1967
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [adjective]
softOE
high post1809
four-posta1818
unslept1864
queen-size1959
orthopaedic1976
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxxvii. 501 Nyste ic hu þyses geares ymbren geendode for þan ic softum slæpe me gereste swa swa þu me forlete.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 35 Ic walde fein pinian and sitten on forste and on snawe up et mine chinne, and þa ȝet hit walð me þunchen þet softeste beð and þet wunsemeste þet ic efre ibad.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Royal) (1981) l. 710 Al me þuncheð sauure ant soft þet he sent me.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2412 Pharaon bad him wurðen wel In softe reste and seli mel.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 980 (MED) It hath be sen and felt fulofte, The harde time after the softe.
1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 60 Certes the time muste be taken as hit cometh, is hit hard or softe.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 114 For werynes on me a slwmer soft Come.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. vii. 105 Till that the conquering Wine hath steep't our sense, In soft and delicate Lethe. View more context for this quotation
1637 J. Milton Comus 34 Where young Adonis oft reposes, Waxing well of his deepe wound In slumber soft.
1696 R. Gould Rival Sisters iv. 42 Go ring th' Alarum Bell, call up my Father From his soft Rest, to see this horrid sight.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles i. xvi. 21 This pleasing, this delicious soft Retreat In Safety guards me from September's Heat.
1761 M. Collyer tr. S. Gessner Death Abel ii. 49 Sleep..at length came; but it was unaccompany'd with that soft ease, that sweet delight which blest our slumbers while innocent.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II ii. lxix. 95 Many a joy could he from Night's soft presence glean.
1865 J. Conington tr. Horace Odes (ed. 3) iv. v. 112 Sweet Peace, soft Plenty, swell the golden grain.
1901 D. Gerard Supreme Crime xi. 122 The life of serious work,..bare of all those dallyings and soft pleasures of which he had dreamed.
1955 William & Mary Q. 12 521 The town of Richmond slumbered in the soft indolence of the bright May morning.
2006 P. Lee Opium Culture 33 The soft soporific effects of opium.
2. spec. With reference to the effect on the five senses.
a. Pleasing in taste; relatively free from acidity, sharpness, or sourness on the palate. Also of wine: not astringent, typically due to a low tannin content.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sweetness > [adjective]
sweetc888
sootc950
doucea1350
sweetlya1350
softa1398
lusciousc1420
dulcet1440
mellite?1440
sugarishc1450
dulce1508
ambrosiana1522
figgy?1549
nut-sweet1586
nectaredc1595
dulcid1596
marmalady1602
fat1610
unsharp1611
unsour1611
marmalade1617
dulcorous1676
dulceous1688
saccharaceous1689
sugar-candyish1852
saccharic1945
OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 54 Hic et haec dulcis et hoc dulce þæt is werod; suauis softe oððe wynsum.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 247 (MED) A litel zuelȝ huerby me smackeþ hou god is zuete and zofte as me tasteþ and smackyþ þet wyn.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iv. vii. 149 Blood..is swete and softe [L. suauis] in atast and [in] touche.
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 193, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Soft(e For þe lasse bittir & þe softer sauer þat it haþe, þe bettir it is.
a1450 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xvi. xciv In some place it is softe [L. suaue] in sauoure, and in some place moste salt: and in some place moste bitter.
a1505 R. Henryson Sum Pract. Med. 60 in Poems (1981) 181 With ane brewing caldrun full of hait caill, For it wilbe the softar and sweittar of the smak.
1578 J. Frampton tr. M. Fernández de Enciso Briefe Descr. Portes Weast India 15 It hath a good sauour, and hath the tast so good & so soft, that it is maruelous.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique vi. xvi. 762 Others iudge them by the sauour and relish of the wine, which if they finde to be sharpe in the beginning they hope well of the goodnes thereof: but and if they taste flat and soft, then they feare the contrarie.
1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants iv. iii. vi. 190 If the Sap-Vessels are either less numerous or less Sulphureous; they give so mild a Tincture to the Parenchyma, as not to produce a bitter, but a sweet or soft Tast; as in Apples, Grapes, Goosberries, &c.
1779 J. Carver Treat. Culture Tobacco Plant v. 33 That raw fiery taste so frequently found in the common sale tobacco will be totally eradicated, and though it retains all its strength, will be soft and pleasing in its flavour.
1826 D. Booth Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 101 Preserving the sweet flavour of the malt.., and the soft richness.
1846 A. Wislizenus Mem. Tour N. Mexico 44 The water..is clear and soft of taste.
1914 Shanghai Times 11 June 4/3 Its [sc. China tea's] soft taste appeals far more to the palate than the hard taste of Indian tea.
1967 Ebony Nov. 35 (advt.) The Lucky Strike Filter 100 is a whole new kind of cigarette. Soft in taste. Subtle.
1974 H. Johnson Wine (ed. 2) 183 Merlot wine is softer, ages sooner, tends more to richness and sweetness.
2001 V. Nehez Café Pongo Cookbk. iii. 110 The soft flavor of the goat cheese, combined with the zucchini and peppers, is perfect with this artichoke pesto.
b. Pleasing to the ears; pleasant-sounding.
(a) Of a sound, the voice, etc.: low, quiet, subdued; not loud, harsh, or rough. Also: melodious, pleasing to the ear, sweet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > faintness or weakness > [adjective]
smalleOE
stillc1000
softc1230
dim1398
lowc1400
obscure?a1450
basea1500
remiss1530
indistinct1589
demiss1646
faint1660
murmurant1669
faintish1712
slender1785
under1806
unclamorous1849
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > pleasantness of sound > [adjective] > gentle or not harsh
smalleOE
softc1230
gentle1548
softly1576
melting1585
mellow1650
dulcified1684
tender1709
silken1785
smooth1836
velvety1896
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > pleasant
sweetc900
softc1230
well relesedc1475
chanting1561
satin1635
luting1887
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > [adjective] > melodious or harmonious
sweetc900
merryOE
softc1230
accordanta1325
well-soundingc1350
cordant1382
sootc1385
songfula1400
melodiousa1425
sugaredc1430
well-toneda1500
tunable1504
dulcea1513
equivalenta1513
consonant?1521
harmonicala1527
harmoniousc1550
consorteda1586
Orphean1593
concentful1595
melodical1596
sweet-recording1598
tuneful1598
sirenical1599
high-tuned1603
nightingale-like1611
soundful?1615
according1626
modulaminous1637
undiscording1645
canorous1646
symphonious1652
concinnous1654
consonous1654
harmonic1667
sirenica1704
symphonial1773
concentual1782
chantant1785
Memnonian1800
melodized1807
Orphic1817
undiscordant1819
concentuous1850
fluting1852
melodic1871
well-orchestrated1872
jarless1876
tuny1885
tunesome1890
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > pleasant > soft or gentle voice > having
softc1230
soft-spoken1616
soft-tongued1660
softly-spoken1851
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 58 (MED) Ha setteð hire wordes swa efne þet ha ne þunche ouer sturet..ah inwardliche & soðliche, wiðuten hihðe & hehschipe, in a softe steuene.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 6 Þat plait was stif & starc & strong, Sum wile softe & lud among.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1580 (MED) ‘My ffader,’ Ihesus sede þo myd wel softe breþe, ‘Ich by-take my gost in þin hond.’
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 745 And with a soun as softe as ony shryfte They lete here wordis thour the clift pace.
1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) (1859) i. xxxvii. 41 Thenne held they a counceyl so softe and so stylle that I nomore herd for a good space.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 177 He lyght fro his hors and in Softe laghynge Sayde, [etc.].
1532 R. Whittington tr. Erasmus De Ciuilitate Morun Puerilium sig. C.8/2 Let thy voyce be soft and styll, nat hye and clamorous lyke carters.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xii. 60 Of loude and soft reading.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxiv. 268 Her voyce was euer soft, Gentle and low, an excellent thing in women. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals v, in tr. Virgil Wks. 24 The soft Whispers of the Southern Wind.
a1771 T. Gray Imit. Propertius in Wks. (1884) I. 153 Whence the soft strain and ever-melting verse?
1779 J. Warner in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1844) IV. 263 I dealt only in the softest inflexions of voice, though with you..I should have been angry.
1817 J. Keats Poems 6 The soft rustle of a maiden's gown.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist I. xii. 185 There came a soft tap at the door.
1876 J. S. Bristowe Treat. Theory & Pract. Med. ii. iv. 595 A soft systolic murmur is frequently to be heard.
1915 J. Turner Let. July in C. Warren Somewhere in France (2019) 18 You should see and hear how these frank, sweet-eyed girls with the so-soft and charming accent are greeted.
1954 Boys' Life Aug. 20/3 Carter..exhaled a soft sigh of triumph.
2003 E. Hay Garbo Laughs xvi. 123 She picked up the extension in the hallway and heard his soft voice.
(b) Of a musical instrument: making or emitting a gentle, smooth, and relatively quiet sound.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > [adjective] > by quality of sound
softa1525
lofty1598
vocal1649
alto1802
contrabass1834
soprano1856
baritone1876
monophonous1878
tinny1904
sopranino1907
plinky1926
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [adjective] > soft
softa1525
still1541
piano1683
pianissimo1838
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 757 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 118 The psaltery ye sytholis ye soft sytharist.
1530 G. Joye tr. M. Bucer Psalter of Dauid f. 235 Prayse him with softe [L. benesonantibus] claricimbales: prayse hym with lowde claricymbales.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. I.iiv The Cretenses vsed harpes and other softe [It. molli] instrumentes.
1637 J. Milton Comus 4 With his soft Pipe, and smooth-dittied Song.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 551 Anon they move..to the Dorian mood Of Flutes and soft Recorders. View more context for this quotation
1746 W. Dunkin tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles ii. ii. 82 Thee the softer Lyre Delights.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho II. ii. 42 Their voices accompanied by a few soft instruments.
1820 J. Keats Ode on Grecian Urn in Lamia & Other Poems 114 Ye soft pipes, play on.
1864 G. Dennis Handbk. for Travellers in Sicily 397/2 A flood of harmony..gradually subsided, till it sounded like the half-expiring notes of the softest flute.
1931 Amer. Mercury Feb. 242/1 This modulatory passage Weingartner sets in the veiled tones of the soft trombones, trumpets, bassoons, and clarinets.
2014 J. McKeon Honour Holy Ground v. 33 The sound of soft violins crept around the theatre humming a gentle tune.
(c) Designating a smoothly melodic version of any of various types of popular music (originally jazz), esp. one which is less loud, intense, and uncompromising than an earlier, more experimental version, and is typically regarded as having greater commercial appeal. Cf. hard adj. 27a.soft rock: see Compounds 2a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > jazz > [adjective] > types of
Chicagoan1861
bad1897
hot1918
red-hot1918
soft1921
low-down1922
sweet1924
barrel-house1926
New Orleans1926
straight1926
crazy1927
dirty1927
hotcha1930
jungle1935
solid1935
traditional jazz1935
powerhouse1937
gutty1939
riffy1939
jivey1944
Kansas City1946
cool1948
West Coast1949
far-out1954
nutty1955
swinging1955
mainstream1957
Afro-Latin1958
1921 Billboard 21 Feb. 4/2 (advt.) Wanted cornet player.., syncopation, harmony blues, soft jazz. For dance.
1947 Melody Maker 27 Sept. 1/2 The Septet will be airing half an hour or so of what promises to be a new style of ‘soft jazz’.
1979 G. Giddins in H. Hawes & D. Asher Raise up off Me (new ed.) Introd. p. xii The soft-funk recordings alienated his older audience and didn't attract a new one.
1991 Times 14 Jan. 16/3 Their lyrics are English and their soft-metal sound is as British as that of acts like Queen.
2013 B. Stanley Yeah Yeah Yeah (2014) xlix. 451 Soft soul's opulence and depth stood out in the early seventies.
c. Having an odour that not pungent, acrid, or strong; designating such an odour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > fragrance > [adjective]
sweet900
sootc950
aromatic1366
merrya1398
well-smellinga1398
sweet-smellingc1400
lusciousc1420
savoury?a1425
redolingc1429
redolent?a1439
odorate?1440
flagrant1450
redolentc1450
well-savouringc1450
aromatous1483
softa1500
well-aired1505
balmy1508
ambrosiana1522
embalmeda1529
fragrantc1530
perfumed1538
scented?c1562
scented1567
balm-like1569
sweet1573
aromatizate1576
aromatical1578
Sabaeana1586
ambrosial1590
rich1590
perfumed1591
sweet-scented1591
reperfumed1593
balm-breathing1595
nectaredc1595
spiced1600
fuming1601
fumed1612
scentful1612
balsam1624
perfumy1625
odoraminous1656
aroma-olent1657
suaveolent1657
aromatized1661
essenced1675
balsamy1687
flavorous1697
balsamic1714
well-scented1726
scenty1738
breathing1757
spicy1765
flavouriferous1773
aromal1848
bescented1863
euodic1868
nosy1892
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. lii. 944 Ebenus..is somdel sour and bytynge in sauour, and takeþ fuyre anon if it comeþ neih þerto and makeþ softe and swete [L. suauem] smoke and smylle.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 92 His seed ys reed, his odour softe [L. suavis], of good effect.
1526 Grete Herball ccxxviii. sig. N.ivv/2 Laudane..hath vertu to conforte by the softe odour of it.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum i. xxix. 83 It is soone found to bee of a more pleasant softer smell.
1682 S. Gilbert Florists Vade-mecum 29 Bearing many flowers,..of a fine pale blew or sky colour, of a soft sweet scent.
1760 J. Cartwright Ess. Virtues Balm of Gilead 2 Its fine soft agreeable odour contributes also to establish its reputation.
1787 T. Swift Temple of Folly i. 17 Each musky scent her tortur'd locks diffuse, Or, gain'd by chymic skill, the essenc'd dews; Skill which purloins the sweets, as they disclose, From the soft jasmine, and the richer rose.
1818 S. Woodworth Poems 72 The peach-bloom..shakes soft odours from its silken leaves.
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. iv. vii. 58 A soft perfume was wafted across his path.
1926 J. Devanny Butcher Shop xi. 110 Row upon row of sturdy cherry trees flung soft scent from their garniture of pinkish bloom.
1970 A. K. Armah Fragments vii. 201 A scent, soft and clear, of ripening mangoes and fine dust before rain came with the breeze.
2004 B Dec. 127/1 What makes this scent really special is the delicate bouquet of star jasmine.., Japanese honeysuckle and soft musk.
d. Touching something only lightly or gently; that applies little pressure to, or brushes against, a surface.A yielding surface is also sometimes implied; cf. sense 10.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > touching with the hand > [adjective] > having a light touch > touching lightly (of the hand, etc.)
soft1565
flattering1650
1565 J. Hall in tr. Lanfranc Most Excellent Woorke Chirurg. Pref. sig. A.ijv All that should be admytted to that arte, shoulde be..hole of mynde and of members, sclender and tender fingred, hauyng a softe and stedfast hande.
1572 P. R. Lament. Lady Scotl. sig. a.viijv A Prelat ane day in his bed to sport him Did clap his lufe with kissis soft and sweit.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico i. 24 An incision pains the less when made by a soft hand.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 471 I will bring thee where no shadow staies..thy soft imbraces. View more context for this quotation
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes (new ed.) I. i. xxiv. 22 What though you can the Lyre command, And sweep its Tones with softer Hand Than Orpheus.
1785 Humming Bird (ed. 3) 406/1 And oh what delight my fond bosom o'erflows, When I feel the soft touch of his cheek.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Homer's Hymn to Mercury xxv, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 303 Right through the temple..He went with soft light feet.
1868 Sisters' Year xliv. 339 Effie could answer only by soft caresses and soothing words.
1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 162 The soft hand of the Americans is not as good as the mailed fist of the Germans.
1968 H. Brodkey in New Yorker 27 Apr. 49/2 If he embraced her, she would explore her feelings of similitude to him in kisses that would be like waves—suffocating, soft, private, dense.
2006 E. Fallenberg tr. B. Gur Murder in Jerusalem ii. 30 Aviva, who was standing behind him, placed a soft hand on his shoulder.
e. Pleasing in appearance.
(a) Pleasing to the eye; free from ruggedness or incongruity in appearance; characterized by a subtle effect or contrast rather than sharp definition.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adjective]
faireOE
comelyOE
winlyOE
goodlyOE
hendya1250
hendc1275
quaintc1300
seemlyc1305
tidya1325
avenant1340
honestc1384
sightya1387
properc1390
well beseena1393
queema1400
speciousa1400
featousc1400
parisantc1400
rekenc1400
well-favoureda1438
wellc1450
spectable?a1475
delicatec1480
jollya1500
bonny?a1513
snog1513
viewlyc1536
goodlikec1550
sightly1555
sightful1565
beholdinga1586
eyesome?1587
decent1600
vage1604
prospicuous1605
eyely1614
fashionable1630
well-looking1638
softa1643
fineish1647
well-looked1660
of a good (also ugly, etc.) look1700
likely-looked1709
sonsy1720
smiling1725
aspectable1731
smirkya1758
likely-looking1771
respectable1776
magnificent-looking1790
producible1792
presentable1800
good-looking1804
nice-looking1807
bonnyish1855
spick1882
eyeable1887
aegyo2007
a1643 W. Cartwright November (1647) (single sheet) This Fourth was seene The softest Image of our Beauteous Queene.
1685 W. Salmon Polygraphice (ed. 5) ii. ix. 83 When you imitate Plaster, be sure to take the true out-lines or circumferences, and taking notice how the shadow falls, to do it very faint and soft as the design requires.
1712 A. Pope tr. Ovid Sapho to Phaon in tr. Ovid Epist. (ed. 8) 8 Soft Scenes of Solitude no more can please.
1749 A. Hill tr. Voltaire Meropé v. i. 67 Every Tree's soft Shadow cover'd Anguish.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 770 This mode of engraving..when carefully executed, has a soft and pleasing effect.
1869 H. F. Tozer Res. Highlands of Turkey I. 201 Following its stream..through softer scenery.
1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival xxi. 248 So Ronnie sat there, making little croquis of Jenny with soft outlines elusive as herself.
1984 J. Partridge One Touch Photogr. 38 In winter, when the sun is at a low angle, sunlight has to penetrate more atmosphere which diffuses it, giving weak light and long soft shadows.
2002 Ashmolean Ann. Rep. 37 (caption) In this print he uses, as he often does, the painterly and softer appearance of the aquatint in stark opposition to the harsh and more aggressive etched lines.
(b) Of light: not harsh, intense, or glaring; low, subdued.In quot. in figurative context with sense 16 also implied.
ΚΠ
1648 J. Sparrow tr. J. Böhme Descr. Three Princ. v. 36 Hereupon you are to know, that the matrix in the second Principle..is but meerly an eternall, beginninglesse, soft..spirit, which hath no such fiery intolerable light, but all there is pleasant and cheerfull, and the eternall originall matrix is not known there; but the soft light of the heart of God, maketh all courteous and cheerfull.
1720 A. Boyer tr. F. de S. de La Mothe-Fénelon Demonstr. Existence & Attributes God (new ed.) i. lviii. 114 Where is that pure and soft Light,..which opens Eyes that are shut.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Queen of my Heart ii Thy beauty more bright Than the stars' soft light.
1895 F. M. Crawford Casa Braccio xiii The moon-dawn sending up its soft radiance to the sky.
1924 Amer. Mercury Sept. 100/1 The candidates in rows three deep stand with bent heads on a thick plush carpet in a dim soft light.
1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide 833 Little dark-panelled, old-fashioned rooms, with..time-smoked ceilings and soft lighting.
2009 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 19 May h4/2 Pletcher suggests down-lighting to replicate the soft glow of natural moonlight.
(c) Of colour: not strikingly or obtrusively bright; quiet, subdued.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > soft
tender?a1513
soft1672
delicate1675
mellow1706
mellowy1816
serene1846
etherean1881
mellowed1889
muted1897
pastel1899
pastel1914
sedate1924
1672 H. Chamberlen tr. F. Mauriceau Dis. Women with Child iii. xxxiii. 419 Some advise it to be kept in a Bed hung round with Red Curtains,..but this often hurts the Eyes, and inflames them by its vivacity..; wherefore I believe a softer Colour..ought to be preferred.
a1771 T. Gray tr. T. Tasso in Wks. (1814) II. 92 Here the soft emerald smiles of verdant hue.
1845 G. Budd On Dis. Liver 228 The tissue of the liver is pale, and..of a soft buff colour.
1938 E. Goudge Towers in Mist (1998) xi. 253 She would have shut tired eyes against the blaze of summer, but these soft colours were kind to weariness.
2006 M. Pollan Omnivore's Dilemma iii. 57 The sky was a soft gray, drizzling lightly.
3.
a. Causing or involving little or no discomfort, hardship, or suffering; easily endured or borne.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > not onerous or burdensome
lightOE
softa1200
unchargeantc1380
unimposing1736
canny1737
untroublesome1766
unburdensome1792
unvexatious1827
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > physical comfort > [adjective] > causing no pain or discomfort
softa1200
unsore?a1513
painless1534
unachinga1616
unirritating1775
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 7 (MED) Ure helendes..oðer dieliche tocume is softe and swiðe milde and licwurðe alle þo þe he to cumeð.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8039 Soð ich habbe þe isæid ah nis þe na þe softre [c1300 Otho sohtere].
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2057 Queðer-so it wurðe softe or strong, Ðe reching wurð on god bi-long.
c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 959 Mi ȝok is softe Inowh to weren.
c1400 (?c1384) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 367 For Crist hymself seys þat his ȝok is soffte, and his charge is light.
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 30 (MED) Sche ymagyned hyr-self þe most soft deth.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Miii He hydeth the fearefull scourge of greuouse correction, & sheweth vs somtymes the saft rodde of his swete discipline.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 778 Some say hee shall be ston'd: but that death is too soft for him (say I). View more context for this quotation
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Worc. 169 After ten years soft durance in all plenty..enjoying a great temporall Estate left him by his Father, He dyed.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Let. to Friend (1690) 4 Besides his soft Death, the incurable state of his Disease might somewhat extenuate your Sorrow.
1701 W. Paterson Proposals Council of Trade 84 Altho'..this act be a monopoly,..Yet was it incomparably more soft and easy, than these Barbarous Monopolies of the Kings, James the 5th and 6th.
1787 T. Swift Temple of Folly iv. 85 O'er the rough rocks of Pindus have I broke Obedient Pegasus to thy soft yoke.
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 652 As years, with sullen flow, creep by, E'en grief will find a soft decline.
1861 All Year Round 13 Apr. 69/2 These [mint leaves] he bruises a little, till they breathe, under that gentle persecution and soft torture, a calm, perfumed essence.
1939 E. B. White in Harper's Mag. Feb. 330/2 I had it soft, because my journey wasn't at the rush hour and I often had the platform of the car to myself.
1993 Irish Times (Nexis) 12 Feb. 7 Assisted death is acceptable when the patient is conscious, suffers from an incurable disease accompanied by intolerable pain and repeatedly demands help to obtain a ‘soft death’.
b. Involving little or no exertion or effort; free from toil or labour; (now chiefly colloquial) easy, comfortable; lazy, idle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > doing effortlessly > involving little effort
lightOE
easyc1380
softc1390
unpainful?c1425
unconstrained1541
toilless1606
facile1607
labourlessa1613
cheapa1616
unforced1642
unlaborious1644
slight1667
sweatless1893
pussyfoot1899
lite1929
light-touch1935
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [adjective] > characterized by sloth or laziness
accidiousa1400
slothfulc1400
truant1603
acedious1609
lazy1609
picktootha1726
siestose1845
soft1849
lotophagous1855
c1390 W. Hilton Expos. Qui habitat & Bonum Est (1954) 68 (MED) Wisdam wol not be founden in..þe londe of soft liuynge, þat is, in þe herte of a fleschly mon lyuing in softnes of lust.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 78 (MED) Softe [Fr. molle] slowthe is right an harde steppemodir and a perylous aduersary.
1550 R. Sherry tr. Erasmus Declam. Chyldren in Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. O.iiiiv It is made softe and easy [L. mollius], that is done when it shuld be.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 343 Among all creatures a womans trauell is most laborious and difficult, as wel because she leadeth a soft and sedentary life.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre ii. xl. 97 They were bred in such soft imployments, that they were presently foundred with any hard labour.
1655 P. Mews Let. 23 Apr. in E. Nicholas Papers (1892) II. 267 Iff I did not know how much hee is devoted to his ease and a soft kinde of life.
1690 W. Temple Ess. Poetry in Wks. (1720) I. 249 Among the Romans, the last..Scipio passed the soft Hours of his Life in the Conversation of Terence.
1724 L. Welsted Epist., Odes &c. 51 Yet to the Muses dost thou spare The few soft Moments, won from Care.
1770 T. Nugent tr. E. Toze Present State Europe I. 20 The northern people, their bodies being steeled by the sharpness of the Weather, are less inclined to a soft way of life.
1849 R. Browning Pippa Passes (rev. ed.) i, in Poems (new ed.) I. 170 A soft and easy life these ladies lead!
1894 Daily News 2 Oct. 6/1 The popular idea that romance is ‘a soft job’.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill viii. 181 You have deliberately taken things easy, because you wanted a soft time of it during the summer term.
1973 J. G. Farrell Siege of Krishnapur xiv. 187 Their soft and luxurious upbringing had not fitted them for this harsh reality.
2011 Plymouth Herald (Nexis) 13 Oct. 11 What great societies have to guard against is the soft living and compromised standards that their very success induces.
4.
a. Of weather, a season, a day, etc.
(a) Free from storms or rough winds, or from cold or chill; calm, mild, balmy.In quot. OE, softe translates the Latin adjectival form tranquilla tranquil adj., but the syntax of the original has been misunderstood and the Old English probably shows soft adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > fine weather > [adjective] > mild (of weather or climate)
mildOE
softc1225
greenc1425
gentle1550
genial1647
clement1652
balmy1709
maumy1728
OE Regularis Concordia (Tiber.) (1993) xxix. 54 Si autem temperies tranquilla fuerit, claustro, uti libuerit, cum Christi benedictione utantur : gyf soþlice gemetegud softe byþ hyra claustre swa hit alyfed byþ mid Criste[s] bletsunge brucan.]
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 44 (MED) Þis weater mote iwurðe me wunsum & softe.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3061 Ðis weder is softe and ðis king hard.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 24837 Þe weder soft in somertide. sone be-gan to rugg & ride.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 58 Calme or softe, wythe-owte wynde, calmus.
a1505 R. Henryson Robene & Makyne 97 in Poems (1981) 178 The nicht is soft and dry.
a1525 in C. L. Kingsford Chrons. London (1905) 261 This yere was a wonderfull easy and soft wynter, wtout stormys or frostes.
1649 E. Stephens tr. B. de Vigenère Disc. Fire & Salt i. 59 This will do better in soft weather with south winds.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 85 In this soft Season,..In prime of all the Year, and Holydays of Spring.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 219 In a soft Air and a delicious Situation.
1759 J. Justice Brit. Gardener's Cal. 197 Do it in a soft day, and when there is no wind stirring.
1822 M. A. Kelty Osmond III. 107 It was a soft, early summer's morning.
1851 T. Carlyle Life J. Sterling i. ii. 12 The climate of Bute is rainy, soft of temperature... In that soft rainy climate [etc.].
1894 R. D. Blackmore Perlycross III. ix. 170 It is such a soft spring-day.
1948 B. Griffith Amer. Me i. i. 4 This morning was soft and warm..with all the little bug noises you hear when you stand still in the middle of a field.
2002 T. D. Hidier Born Confused xvii. 169 Outside the air was balmy and soft.
(b) Chiefly Scottish, Irish English, and English regional (northern). Rainy, wet; (also) thawing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [adjective] > wet (of weather, place, or time)
wetc893
moista1398
waterya1398
moistya1500
waterish1545
washy1566
rotten1567
slabby1653
weety1658
late1673
fresh1790
slottery1790
soft1812
givey1829
juicy1837
sploshy1838
sposhy1842
slip-sloppya1845
splishy-splashyc1850
shabby1853
soppy1872
sappy1885
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. i. Add. 11 If they [sc. slugs] be attacked when on the surface of the ground, where they are every soft morning in search of food.
1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 12 July (1946) 94 The day excessive rainy, or, as we call it, Soft.
1874 M. Oliphant For Love & Life (1880) 68 The day was fine, notwithstanding the prophecy of ‘saft weather’.
1907 N. Munro in Blackwood's Mag. Jan. 82/1 A nesty saft day, wi' a smirr o' rain.
1937 Border Mag. Sept. 141 We said, ‘It's soft like’, meaning that it was actually raining.
2003 I. Banks Raw Spirit (2004) xiv. 317 It′s a day of on-off drizzle—a Soft Day as they′d term it in Ireland.
b. Of the sun, rain, wind, etc.: shining, falling, or blowing gently; gentle, mild, light. Also in figurative contexts.When used of the sun, the sun's rays, etc., cf. sense 2e(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > fine weather > [adjective] > mild (of weather or climate) > of the elements
softc1390
sober1398
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. Prol. l. 1 In a somer sesun whon softe was þe sonne.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1030 (MED) It es a yard cald o delites Wit all maner o suet spices Qua lenges þar thar þam noght lang þar sune es soft and suet sang.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 17 (MED) Titan was in þe est rysyng, Of his hete atempre and riȝt softe, Her emyspery for to glade a-lofte.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 94 Erly at Morne When the Sun vp soght with his softe beames.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 48 The..southyn vynd..generis thondir, cluddis and smal soft ranis.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 238 [He] prosperouslie landes at Leith..with a safte winde the xix day of maii.
1635 W. Saltonstall tr. G. Mercator Historia Mundi 50 Soft and gentle raines do mitigate the cold of Winter.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. iv. xxxvi. 59 Fig-Trees should immediately enjoy..some soft Showers of March and April.
1732 London Mag. Dec. 459/1 In Good Nature we find the most valuable Ease; calmed by the soft breezes of this peaceful, this endearing Property, our more turbulent Expectations relax.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 127 Soft airs and gentle heavings of the wave Impel the fleet.
1805 M. Y. Sewell Poems II. 234 Not one soft ray of comfort shall impart Its cheering cordial to the wounded heart.
1823 F. Clissold Narr. Ascent Mont Blanc 22 A soft breath of wind spread its folds, and floated it gently in the air.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 74 The soft river-breeze, Which fann'd the gardens.
1932 G. E. King Memories Southern Woman of Lett. i. 12 The heavy clouds overhead began to drop their moisture in a soft drizzle of rain.
1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 9 Aug. b7 A soft summer downpour greeted the crowd.
2006 F. Delaney Ireland (2008) 10 Softer breezes floated in from the west.
c. Of the sea, a stream, etc.: free from rough waves or turbulence; smooth, calm; running calmly or gently.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > state of sea > [adjective] > not rough
stillOE
plainc1330
smoothc1374
demure1377
calmc1440
softa1450
glassy1535
sleek1603
eddyless1621
oily smooth1803
waveless1804
foamless1821
undimpled1821
rippleless1832
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) (1988) 187 Schipfighting askeþ to haue a softe see [L. tranquillo..mari] and noght rowh see.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 626 Þe se was soft, þe wawes were stille.
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 34v There is no shippe better than Gallies be, in a softe and a caulme sea.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 223 From thence with a soft streame, and gentle fall, Thone runneth by..Taunton.
1673 J. Milton Psalm LXXXVII in Poems (new ed.) 162 In thee fresh brooks, and soft streams glance.
1742 G. Turnbull tr. Justinus Hist. xliv. i. 305 Here the rivers are not violent and rapid, so as to be hurtful, but gentle and soft.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 64 Rills of oily eloquence in soft Meanders.
1814 W. Scott Diary 2 Sept. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott (1837) III. viii. 265 We here only feel them as a large but soft swell of the sea.
1863 G. Grove in W. Smith Dict. Bible III. 1311/2 It [sc. Siloah] is not now..anything but a very soft and gentle stream.
1912 Irish Monthly 40 344 A mysterious green hill with deep and greener hollows made by the cold, soft streams.
1976 Amer. Poetry Rev. 5 4/1 I want to spend my last years on the porch of the blue house next to..the soft creek ringing in the grass.
2003 M. Lawson Spring Creeks vii. 135/1 Laying in the grass next to the bank studying the soft currents, he became aware of tiny insects passing before his eyes.
5.
a. Of pace, progression, or movement: leisurely, easy; slow; not hasty or hurried. In early use also: †stealthy (obsolete).The adverbial phrase a soft pace (in earlier use also the soft pace) is common in late Middle English and the 16th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > [adjective] > unhurried (of movement)
softc1300
slowa1398
deliberate1575
leisurely1604
unhurrieda1774
leisure1809
downtempo1972
c1300 St. Edmund King (Laud) 30 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 297 He ne made no softe pas, Ake wende him þudere ful hastifliche.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 1386 (MED) This maiden..Al prively the softe pas Goth thurgh the large toun unknowe.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 472 Stalkynge, or soft and sly goynge, serptura.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin (1899) x. 160 (MED) Thei rode forth the softe pas straite and clos.
1511 Pylgrymage Richarde Guylforde (Pynson) f. lvv We made sayle with right softe spede.
1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxix. f. 312v The Knight which rode a soft pace, for that his horsse was tired.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies vi. xxviii. 493 Circles..wherein the Auntients and Noblemen did sing and daunce with a softe and slowe motion.
1665 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim xxvii. 313 A soft pace goes far.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 164 The Dromedaries have..a good soft trott, and will travel with ease forty Leagues a day.
a1704 T. Brown To Belinda ii, in Wks. (1711) IV. 100 Love is all Gentleness and Joy, Smooth are his Looks, and soft his Pace.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Matilda in Relics (1862) 56 With slow soft steps leaving the mountain's steep.
1871 D. G. Rossetti Dante at Verona in Poems xxi A lady..at a soft pace Riding the lists round to the dais.
1937 N.Y. Times 14 Jan. 26/1 Miss Idi Papez and Karl Zwack..skated in top form also, executing all the controlled moves of their soft waltz routine with even greater smoothness than before.
1980 A. F. Skutch Naturalist Trop. Farm x. 163 The local farmers cared little about the size and color of a horse but were most critical of its pace, preferring a soft amble.
2005 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) (Nexis) 17 Jan. 16 Perfect Partner..reached the winning post at the end of a soft canter looking relatively fresh and unruffled.
b. Of a journey, or part of one: taken at a leisurely pace; (also) not strenuous or arduous.Not in widespread use after 17th cent.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [adjective] > leisurely
soft1548
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. liiv The kyng by soft iorneies with al his prisoners cam to London and so to Westminster.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 75 The journeyes that he made were soft and small; so that if hee went from Rome but to Tibur or Præneste, he would make two daies of it.
1696 T. Rogers Happiness of Quiet Mind 30 In the withering decays of Age, you cannot indeed run very fast in the ways of God, but you may travel by soft and easie Journeys to the Grave.
1898 Knapsack (Fire Underwriters' Assoc. Pacific) 86 Consoling myself with the reflection that adjusters can't always have soft trips, I started for The Dalles.
1993 J. Oplinger Quang Tri Cadence iii. 43 By soft stages we came to a region of scrub-covered dune and stopped by a large grassy hummock.
†c. Of an axle: having a smooth easy motion. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > [adjective] > smoothly
gliding1603
soft1667
sedate1684
joltless1808
slithy1855
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 165 The Earth..that spinning sleeps On her soft Axle, while she paces Eev'n. View more context for this quotation
a1676 J. Dunton Dialogical Disc. Adonibezeck 70 in Heavenly Pastime (1685) The Terrean sedentary Globe, which with far lesser labour might make its diurnal revolution, and as it were, on its soft Axels revolve with noiseless Motion.
6. Of a fire, an oven, etc.: burning slowly or gently; moderate or gentle in heat or intensity; slow; (also) designating the heat produced by such a fire, oven, etc.Use of a fire is particularly common in the 16th and 17th centuries.a soft fire makes sweet malt: see fire n. and int. Phrases 4f.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [adjective] > slow or gentle
softa1400
slowa1425
soakingc1450
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 185 (MED) Sette þe viol vpon soft colis [L. lentas prunas] & lete hem boile.
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 31 Seþe þam on a softe fyre vnto þey be made oon body.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 85 After be it put vpon a softe fyr [L. ignem suavem].
1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. Hiij The fyre must be very softe in the begynnyng.
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 22 By the meanes of yt soft heate, vapors are drawn out of the hoal substance of the herb.
1594 Good Huswifes Handmaide f. 31v Close it vp with a couer,..and bake it in a soft Ouen.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 453 Red fillets of Saffron..are dried at a soft fire.
1652 T. Vaughan in tr. J. V. Andreä Fame & Confession Rosie Cross Pref. sig. b6 When the Philosophers first Earth is moistened with its own milk, it swells,..till at last it breaks, and with a soft heat sublimes.
1689 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 620 Some French incendiaries..were adjudg'd to be fastned to a stake, with a soft fire round them.
1710 C. Johnson Force of Friendship v. i. 38 The soft Heat, With macerating Fire consumes me still.
1767 A. Yonge Husbandman's Compan. 13 Melt the bees-wax and hog's-grease upon a soft fire.
1769 B. Clermont tr. Professed Cook (ed. 2) II. 547 Drop it upon white Paper in small Nuts, and bake in a soft Oven.
1887 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 16 256 This animal [sc. the serpent] was..boiled over a soft fire of sweet wood which gave little smoke.
1974 Motor Boating & Sailing May 28/2 Sprinkle roast with garlic salt and poultry seasoning... Place in a soft oven (275 degrees) and forget it for 8 hours.
2010 J. Shi et al. Functional Foods of East v. 111 A strong fire is used until the mixture boils, and then a soft fire is applied.
7. Of a slope, ascent, etc.: gradual, gentle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > slope > [adjective] > gentle
gentle1595
softa1626
the world > action or operation > manner of action > slowness of action or operation > [adjective] > gradual or in stages
gradual1692
soft1794
gradationary1824
pedetentous1837
gradational1842
stair-step1959
a1626 J. Fletcher & W. Rowley Maid in Mill iii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Bbbb2/1 Move like the Sun, by soft degrees.
1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharonnida ii. iv. sig. L1 The stately Mount..to meet the Vale stole down On soft descents.
1781 W. Cowper Retirem. 333 Neither heathy wilds..Nor soft declivities with tufted hills.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. xi. 386 The strain..rose by soft degrees, till the high organ and the choral sounds swelled into full and solemn harmony.
1892 Sc. Geogr. Mag. 8 647 The Pamir routes..lead directly down by soft gradients from the Panj.
1976 Mississippi Rev. 5 41 The hill is already there; a soft rise, a curve pushed into the sky.
2013 Advertiser (Austral.) (Nexis) 17 Aug. (Mag.) 33 Before we knew it, the soft slopes had transformed into a steep, daunting cliff.
II. Yielding readily to the application of pressure; not physically hard or firm.
8.
a. Of a bed, pillow, etc.: readily yielding to the weight of the body; into or upon which a person sinks or settles down comfortably.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > bedding > [adjective] > specific quality of pillow
softa1500
refluffable1965
OE Handbk. for Use of Confessor (Corpus Cambr. 201) in Anglia (1965) 83 28 Deoplic dædbot bið þæt læwede man his wæpna lecge.., ne þæt he cume on wearmon baðe ne on softum bedde.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 26 (MED) Þe kingene king art echeliche icrunet..castel of strengðe aȝein þe stronge unwiht..mel-seotel softest & guldene ȝerde.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 644 Mi nest is holȝ & rum a midde, So hit is softest mine bridde.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 47 To þo zenne belongeþ..þe zofte bed, cloþes likerouses, and alle manyere eyse of bodye.
a1425 Dialogue Reason & Adversity (Cambr.) (1968) 27 (MED) Þere is non bed soft to a seke man.
a1500 (?c1440) J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep (Lansd.) l. 192 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 547 (MED) Off gees also the deede is previd oft..To make pilwes & fether-beddis soft.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. f. ccxciiii/1 They..layde hym bytwene the shetes all naked, and his heed on a softe pyllowe.
1588 T. Kyd tr. T. Tasso Housholders Philos. f. 27v There in a very soft bed I bequeathed my bones to rest.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. iii. 53 With no softer Cushion then the Flint I kneele before thee. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 334 As they sat recline On the soft downie Bank. View more context for this quotation
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 75 Ingenious fancy..devis'd The soft settee.
1830 Ld. Tennyson Merman in Poems 26 Soft are the mossbeds under the sea.
a1894 C. Rossetti Poems (1904) 263/2 Thou, O Lord, in pain, hadst no pillow soft.
1921 E. L. White Andivius Hedulio i. viii. 125 I lay, flaccid, in my big, deep, soft bed.
1961 J. Kerouac Let. 31 May in Sel. Lett. 1957–69 (1999) 292 I have big new reclining chair cost 120, solid wood with soft huge pillowings to lean in.
2003 C. Birch Turn again Home xxxi. 356 He would sigh and sink into it, as into a soft bed after many a battle.
b. Of rest or a place to rest: affording ease and relaxation; comfortable. Now rare except as in sense 8c.
ΚΠ
c1450 tr. Secreta Secret. (Royal) 29 Thingis that makith the body fatte.., as wyn that is dowsett,..and slepe aftir mete, soft liyng, and alle good odoures.
1655 I. Walton Compl. Angler (ed. 2) i. 14 The several kinds of fowle..which with their very excrements afford him a soft lodging at night.
1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Choephoræ in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 356 The well-spread couch Inviting soft repose.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 82 By soft recumbency of outstretch'd limbs.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. ii. 32 If the reverend fathers..loved good cheer and soft lodging.
1858 E. S. Sheppard Rumour II. iii. 70 Then he sank into cushions which supported, while they yielded the softest rest—rest without sleep.
1888 A. Machen Chron. Clemendy 234 They..mounted up unto the wonderful Chasteau de Par Amours, where, certes, there is choice entertainment and soft lodging.
1969 S. Jameson Journey from North I. i. liii. 226 He's lazy to his very bones, a good-for-nothing. A rare soft sit-down he's had of it all these years.
c. Chiefly in Russian and Chinese contexts: designating the highest class of accommodation available on a train, esp. a sleeper; first-class; (also) of or relating to this class of accommodation. Chiefly in soft class (frequently used attributively or adverbially). Cf. earlier soft adv. 1c, hard adj. 1c(b).Used with reference to the upholstered seats in such accommodation.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [adjective] > types of railway carriage or wagon > types of carriage or compartment
first class1821
stand-up1839
non-smoking1851
soft1928
no smoking1973
1928 Cook's Continental Timetable 15 May 102 Sleeping car of direct communication, soft and hard class.
1930 Gen. Mag. & Hist. Chron. (Univ. Pennsylvania) Oct. 37 Most fast Russian trains making overnight trips are provided with two kinds of sleeping accommodations, known as ‘hard’ class and ‘soft’ class berths. ‘Hard’ class berths are not furnished with a soft mattress, while ‘soft’ class berths are.
1932 Week-end Rev. 9 July 62/2 For the supplement of £3 on the trip travellers may go ‘soft’ class, where upholstered seats and arrangements similar to the ‘couchettes’ on the Continental trains are provided.
1949 F. Maclean Eastern Approaches (1951) i. iii. 39 In the train I found myself in a ‘soft’ compartment with three senior..officers of the Red Army.
1978 G. E. Newby Big Red Train Ride ii. 22 We now took a closer look at our deluxe, ‘soft-class’ compartment.
2007 P. P. Thomson Sacred Sea xiii. 137 We're traveling the Russian version of first class, what's known here as Soft class.
9.
a. Of ground: yielding to the feet, an animal's hooves or paws, a vehicle's wheels, etc.Used both in a positive or neutral sense and in a negative sense, suggesting that the ground is muddy or boggy. In horse racing, used as one of the official categories of going (going n. 6b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > ground > [adjective] > soft or spongy
softc1175
sinking1531
spongy1652
wood-sear1670
wood-searya1722
the world > the earth > land > ground > [adjective] > condition for movement
foec1400
smoothc1400
soft?1523
skelp1607
heavy1710
tender1727
severe1881
holding1891
underfoot1976
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9666 Þær shall nu newenn greȝȝþedd beon. Full smeþe. & soffte weȝȝe.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 128 The medewe softe, swote and grene Beet right on the watir syde.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiiiv On mares ground and soft ground the other whelys be better.
1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 169/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II Under foot it is boggie and soft, and full of great stones and slipperie rocks, verie hard and euill to passe through.
1590 J. Hammon tr. B. Aneau Αλεκτορ i. xx. 134 A fayre green and soft meddow.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. F7v Beat their light feet on the soft aierie heath?
1683 J. Morrison tr. J. J. Struys Perillous Voy. iii. i. 118 Two days long we went through the Woods and found it so soft and Marshy that we could hardly bring our Waggons through in safety.
1740 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 86/1 The stately goat..O'er the soft lawn his gambols plays.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. i. vi. 68 Soft marshy land, by being frequently ploughed, becomes more firm and solid.
1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf iii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. I. 56 The bog is no abune knee-deep, and better a saft road as bad company.
1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders II. xiii. 236 She walked up the soft grassy ride.
1932 L. E. Lawes 20,000 Years in Sing Sing ii. 50 Some of the boys lost their boots in the soft, oozy soil.
1970 J. Dickey Deliverance iii. 141 We were by a sump of some kind, a blue-black seepage of rotten water... The earth around it was soft and squelchy.
2005 W. Vamplew & J. Kay Encycl. Brit. Horseracing 142 The official turf descriptions—heavy, soft, good to soft (it used to be called ‘yielding’),..hard—are available well in advance of a race meeting.
b. Of a fall: made so as to land on a yielding or cushioning surface or substance, or in such a way as to escape injury. In early use chiefly in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > [adjective] > fallen down > type of fall (of person)
soft1579
sheer1860
imperial1861
1579 T. Twyne tr. Petrarch Phisicke against Fortune ii. cxxvi. f. 332v The errours of this lyfe, are as it were softe [L. leues] falles vpon the playne grounde, after which, a man may soone ryse vp agayne.
1587 J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) Rudacke x Who climeth so highe, his fall is not soft.
1688 P. Pett Happy Future State of Eng. Pref. sig. B*2v I might give them a fair and soft fall.
1694 Adventures Helvetian Hero 95 Fate had reserv'd him..for better Fortune; and to have more soft and easy falls into the Marriage-Bed, and the longing-Arms of his admired Mistress.
1727 J. Swift Let. 24 June in Wks. (1755) XII. 215 It is agreed the ministry will be changed, but the others will have a soft fall.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. iii. viii. 154 Remains only that the Court,..shall make his fall soft.
1884 W. H. Barneby Life & Labour in Far, Far West ix. 178 We could not have had a softer tumble under the circumstances, and no one was hurt in the least.
1914 Times 26 Jan. 12/4 The bare surface of a loose and more or less sandy consistency,..affording a soft tumble from a swing, merry-go-round, or other apparatus.
1970 A. K. Armah Fragments iv. 102 It was a sudden cry, long and full of fear, followed by the feeble plop of a soft fall.
2000 R. Oittinen Translating for Children (2002) v. 127 Her fall is soft and gentle.
c. Astronautics. Of a landing made by a spacecraft: controlled so as to avoid incurring serious damage. Chiefly in soft landing n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > space flight > [adjective] > landed or landing without damage
soft1950
soft-landed1958
1950 Baytown (Texas) Sun 30 Jan. 8/1 It will start falling toward the moon, and the next step will be to brake it sufficiently to make a soft landing.
1975 Daily Tel. 11 Aug. 11/4 One vehicle will make a soft touchdown on Mars while the large spacecraft which carried it on its journey will remain in orbit.
1995 STS-63 Space Shuttle Mission Rep. 18 The landing was soft and resulted in the RM [= redundancy management] deselecting the right main gear proximity switch because the indication toggled.
2003 J. Sherman Deep Space Observ. Satellites ii. 30 The lander detached and made a soft touchdown on Mars on June 20.
10.
a. Not hard or firm to the touch; having a surface that offers only limited resistance to pressure. Frequently of a person’s body or a body part regarded as desirable or pleasing.Sometimes overlapping with senses 11a, 12a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > [adjective]
lithec888
merroweOE
neshOE
tender?c1225
softa1250
unharda1300
supplec1325
melchc1350
unsad1398
slobbery?a1425
lushc1440
mulch?1440
gentle1555
mellow1577
softly1589
tenerous1598
siddow1601
maumy1728
frush1848
a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 187 Hwet deþ þenne þi blod isched on þe rode, hwet deþ þenne þe large broc of þi softe side?
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 335 Ðanne is tis fruit wel swiðe good, Fair on sigðhe and softe on hond.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 556 Ther nys a fairer nekke Iwys To fele how smothe and softe it is.
c1500 ( T. Morstede Fair Bk. Surgery in R. T. Beck Cutting Edge (1974) 115 (MED) When the mater ys Rype..may be knowne be softe felynge thee of.
a1513 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen in Poems (1998) I. 41 I saw thre gay ladeis..Quhyt, seimlie and soft as the sweit lillies.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) ii. iii. 54 Touch her soft mouth, and march. View more context for this quotation
1637 Bp. J. Hall Remedy Prophanenesse ii. xiii. 178 The hand that was at the first soft, and tender, after it hath beene inured to worke, growes brawned, and impenetrable.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Fable Acis, Polyphemus & Galatea in Examen Poeticum 89 More sleek thy Skin,..And softer to the touch, than down of Swans.
1732 Intriguing Courtiers ii. ii. 18 When his soft Lips encounter mine.., then are all my Senses lost in rapturous Extasies.
1792 J. Gregory Philos. & Literary Ess. II. App. 626 If it [sc. the die] were thrown on a very soft surface,..it might rest on one of the twelve lines or of the eight points that bound it.
1811 R. Hooper Quincy's Lexicon-medicum (new ed.) Cele, a tumour caused by the protrusion of any soft part.
1896 J. W. Kirkaldy & E. C. Pollard tr. J. E. V. Boas Text Bk. Zool. 229 The legs arise..from the soft, lateral portions of the segment.
1919 E. Glasgow Builders x. 150 The other woman seemed to look straight through that soft feminine body to Mrs. Blackburn's thin and colourless soul.
1987 H. Goldblatt tr. L. Ang Curvaceous Dolls in Renditions Spring & Autumn 52 Her hand recoiled slightly when she touched his hairy chest, and she wished fervently that a pair of soft breasts were growing there instead!
2016 D.-E. Chabner Lang. Med. (ed. 11) ii. 47 You can visualize the way organs are surrounded by a double membrane by imagining your fist pushing deep into a soft balloon.
b. Medicine. Of the pulse: easy to compress or difficult to feel when palpated (in later use often regarded as indicative of low blood pressure). Cf. hard adj. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered pulse or circulation > [adjective] > other pulse disorders
harda1398
rare1565
soft1571
large1612
bigeminal1877
bigeminous1881
Adams–Stokes1896
Stokes-Adams1903
quadrigeminal1906
1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde f. 181v But the moyst complexion, doth cause a soft pulse.
1658 tr. D. Sennert Nine Bks. Physick & Chirurg. ix. 168 Soft arteries make a soft [L. mollis] pulse.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Pulse A hard Pulse signifies,..that the Circulations, Secretions, and Excretions are depraved. A soft Pulse denotes the contrary to all these; yet is very fallacious in an acute Peripneumonia.
1831 London Med. Gaz. 9 141/1 If a pulse be small and soft together, then it must be considered as weak.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. x. 113 A soft slow pulse.
1906 Practitioner Dec. 829 The difference between the hard tight pulse of hypertension, and the soft compressible pulse of hypotension.
1969 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 22 Nov. 491/1 It is very well known that hypothermic patients have a very slow, soft pulse and quiet heart sounds.
2009 Internat. Jrnl. Cardiol. 135 67/1 Clinical symptoms of persistent arteriovenous fistula such as reduced walking distance, soft pulse, pain, and restless or cold legs.
11.
a. Of textiles, hair, or similar substances: not abrasive, rough, or coarse to the feel or touch. Also in figurative contexts.Often in similative expressions, as down-soft, feather-soft, petal-soft, silky-soft, etc.: see the first element. See also soft as silk at silk n. and adj. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > types of softness > [adjective] > soft and smooth
softc1275
velvet1592
Serian1605
silk-like1672
velvet-like1677
velvety1752
silky1757
swanskin1925
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11359 Water me brohte..seoððen claðes soften [c1300 Otho sohte] al of white seolke.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xi. 8 Loo! thei that ben clothid with softe thingis [a1425 L.V. softe clothis] ben in housis of kyngis.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. xci. 982 Þe flour þerof is playne and smeþe wiþoute and softe to touche and to handelynge.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1721 This noble wif sat by hire beddys side..And softe wolle..she wroughte.
c1450 tr. Secreta Secret. (Royal) 39 (MED) And the heer be fulle and softe, that man is deboner.
1555 R. Eden Other Notable Thynges touchynge Indies in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 316 Theyr woolle is very softe and fine.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 196 Preistis, leif ȝour pryde, Ȝour skarlet and ȝour veluote soft.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 15 A white soft Bombast intermixed with seeds.
1660 R. Barret Perfect & Experienced Farrier 8 Drie the sore well with a soft linnen rag, or a piece of spunge.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Hair If you would have the Hair grow long and soft.
1782 W. Cowper Progress of Error in Poems 57 Caught in a delicate soft silken net By some lewd Earl.
1840 R. Hare Brief Expos. Sci. Mech. Electr. 144 A cylinder of wood, covered with soft paper, is made to rotate upon an axis.
1887 J. R. Lowell Democracy & Other Addr. 34 [To] walk along Piccadilly at the height of the Season in a soft hat.
1922 Evening Gaz. (Xenia, Ohio) 16 Oct. 6/3 (advt.) She fastens about her throat a lovely choker made of softest fur.
1982 S. K. Penman Sunne in Splendour (1984) ii. x. 450 His cloak..seemed wondrously soft to her after weeks of kersey wool and homespun.
2004 Canad. Living Oct. 21/1 (advt.) Instantly transform your extra-dry hair into shiny, silky, healthy-looking hair that's touchably soft.
b. Of silk: having had its natural gum (sericin) removed, and hence not stiff in texture; degummed. Chiefly in soft silk. Cf. hard adj. 1h.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [adjective] > silk
rawc1350
filoselle1561
reeled1695
soft1769
ungummed1839
marabou1929
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [noun] > silk > from which gum has been removed
soft silk1769
1769 List Prices Weaving Manufactory called Black & Fancy Branch 26 500 Paris-Net made with a Mail, if hard Silk 1 [s.] 0 [d.]..if made with soft Silk Whip 1 [s.] 2 [d.].
?1791 J. Martin Ess. Art Dying 10 Soft silks, bearing the highest gloss are most favorable to the dyer.
1862 M. Merryweather Exper. Factory Life (ed. 3) iii. 31 In 1847, Messrs. C—— had 195 soft-silk looms at work in this town.
1921 C. Salter tr. A. Ganswindt Dyeing Silk i. 155 The bath temperature must..be modified..being lukewarm for soft silk and hard silk.
2005 B. M. King Silk & Empire i. 14 ‘Soft’ silk (a yarn that had the gum removed), was utilised for more general weaving.
12.
a. Composed of, or forming, a substance which may easily be moulded, compressed, cut, or folded. Also: pulpy; of a semi-fluid consistency.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [adjective]
tougha700
lithyc1000
softc1330
weak?a1366
plianta1382
persha1398
plyinga1398
lithec1400
supplec1400
plicable?a1425
curvable?1440
lethec1440
scretec1440
pliablec1475
bowable1483
bowing1483
waldinc1485
supple1513
flexible1548
limber1565
lither1565
bending1567
osier1577
wiry1588
buxom1590
withy1598
suppliable1599
renderingc1600
fluxible1607
winding1609
bendable1611
flippant1622
flexive1629
flexile1633
maniable1633
compliant1667
flectible1705
limp1706
yieldy1757
complying1774
limberly1782
willowy1791
switchy1810
wandy1825
twistable1853
bendsome1861
whippy1867
swack1868
bendy1873
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [adjective] > elastic
softc1330
elastical1660
springy1660
elastic1674
resilient1674
resiliating1709
c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 1244 (MED) Salues haþ he soft And drinkes þat er liþe.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. v. 123 For the women ben likened vnto softe waxe or softe ayer.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 68 And whenne a body ys þicke and drye, softe [L. subtilia] metys and moyste er goode þerto.
a1550 in R. Dyboski Songs, Carols & Other Misc. Poems (1908) 132 Whote wortis make softe crustis.
1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. Cv They make them victuall either by boyling them all to pieces into a broth; or boiling them whole vntill they bee soft and beginne to breake.
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. ix. i. f. 44/1 Ligamentes..must be softe, & flexible because through the obduratnes therof, they might chaunce to hurte that parte.
1658 tr. G. della Porta Nat. Magick iii. xviii. 102 You must take some Potters clay, or soft morter, and fashion it to the bignesse of a Citron that is at his full growth.
1680 W. Lawrence Marriage by Morall Law of God ii. 327 The Shoe-maker makes his Shoes of soft yielding Leather.
1723 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Syst. Nat. Philos. I. i. xxii. 123 A soft Body, which seems to be of a middle Nature betwixt a hard and a liquid Body.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 66 To suppose that they entered the rock while it was yet in a soft state.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 415 By exposure to heat, potass becomes soft, and..melts into a transparent glass.
1879 F. T. Pollok Sport Brit. Burmah I. 234 Leather..which must be kept soft by oil and elbow grease.
1909 Table Talk Aug. 310/1 Take two cupfuls of fondant, put in a double boiler and mash and stir over the fire until soft enough to pour.
1949 Science 14 Jan. 42/2 As the surface crust cooled and hardened, its shrinkage..may have been sufficient to permit the soft viscous magma beneath to be squeezed between the remaining wood and the hard circular edge of the cooled crust.
1985 W. Herrick That's Life 97 Eli was molding a sculpture from the soft doughy centers of Italian bread.
2013 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 13 May 18 The tile maker would have had a series of carved wooden stamps which, when pressed into the soft clay, would have made an indented pattern.
b. Of a hard substance, as stone, metal, etc.: relatively lacking in hardness; readily cut, abraded, or crumbled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > [adjective] > deficient in hardness
softa1398
swasha1800
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. xcviii. 878 Tartar is..like to a softe [L. mollis] stoon.
?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. cii Some hath pleasure in softe golde.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xvi. xxiv. f. 257/2 Lime made of soft stone [L. ex lapide..molli] is best for roofes.
a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. D4v A man of soft metall, that so soone takes the stampe.
1664 J. Beale Let. 18 Jan. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) II. 244 A soft stone or gravelly veine..seldome fayles of a cleare spring.
1670 J. Pettus Fodinæ Regales 5 And in these Veins of Metals and Minerals are often found Loadstones,..Rough pearl and Soft diamond.
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 4 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) We must have a stock of Timber..to keep the Earth, or sometimes soft Mettle..from falling into the Pit.
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. Uv Mailley, is a softer sort of Lime very dusty, and will cut pritty well.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 4 But if heated and cooled gradually, it becomes nearly as soft as pure iron.
1872 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 145 So far the mines have been easily worked, the gangue being as yet comparatively soft.
1884 C.T.C. Monthly Gaz. Nov. 347/1 These roads being composed of soft stone.
1945 Life 23 July 44/2 (caption) The plastic has machining qualities like those of soft brass.
1970 D. Z. Meilach Contemp. Stone Sculpt. iii. 40/1 Lava rock..is a very porous soft stone often associated with garden sculpture.
1992 Family Handyman Jan. 20/3 Copper is a softer metal than steel, so you can quickly cut it with an inexpensive tube cutter or hacksaw.
2006 Guardian 15 May 4/5 Stone from Portland..was judged too soft for coastal protection work.
c. Designating a softer form, state, or type of a substance or material which is commonly either hard or soft.
ΚΠ
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. v. 123 The women ben likened vnto softe waxe [Fr. cyre molle].
1526 Grete Herball ccciii. sig. R.iii./2 Lay the powdre of this sede to ye foundement with powdre of comyn and colofonie that is terre or softe pytche.
1562 W. Bullein Dial. Sorenes f. xxiijv, in Bulwarke of Defence Take of softe bread sodden [etc.].
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. ii. 58 Iron and steel..in long wires equiponderate with untwisted silke and soft wax.
1662 W. Faithorne Art of Graveing & Etching xxii. 35 The manner how to lay a white ground upon your hard or soft varnish.
1726 A. Hill in R. Savage Misc. Poems & Transl. 22 With soft Bisket, now preserve my Tooth.
1757 Art of Drawing in Perspective (ed. 2) ii. iii. 55 The Materials are the hard and soft Varnish, prepared Oil, and Aqua-fortis.
1820 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 110 149 All that is within this rim is soft ivory.
1844 Mag. Hort. Aug. 345 The two mutilated heads are firmly bound with soft bast.
1868 in Bk. Glenbuchat (1942) App. 163 1 doz. soft biscuits..6[d].
1909 Chatterbox 138/1 He was a sort of pedlar or bum-boatman, come to sell onions, soft bread, or cheap jewellery to the sailors.
1957 Techn. Man. No. 8-237 (U.S. Dept. Army) iv. 110 These two objects, the lens and the blocking body, are now fastened together with soft pitch.
2012 J. Deaver XO lxvii. 319 Acoustically the best material was hard ivory, from forest elephant tusks; soft ivory was the next best—from large African elephants.
d. Of glass: softening at a relatively low temperature when heated. Frequently in soft glass. Cf. hard glass n.Soda-lime glass and lead glass are examples of soft glasses. They are less resistant to the effects of heat and chemcial action than hard glasses such as borosilicate.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > glass and glass-like materials > [adjective] > other types of glass
blownc1425
Bohemian1682
grounded1698
soft1758
unsilvered1772
navelledc1817
drawn-out1822
muffled1847
ambitty1856
muffed1868
roughcast1868
Sandwich1881
fumé1883
hand-blown1885
peach-blow1886
opaque1907
mould-blown1925
offhand1941
1758 R. Dossie Handmaid to Arts I. ix. 228 When this flux is easily fusible, that is to say, melts with a less degree of heat, it is..said to be Soft.
1807 A. Aikin & C. R. Aikin Dict. Chem. & Mineral. I. 491/1 The result will be a soft glass retaining nearly equal parts of alkali and silex.
1925 F. W. Hodkin & A. Cousen Textbk. Glass Technol. vi. 51 A..vessel of soft soda-lime glass in which water is boiled, will liberate so much alkali in 15 minutes as to make impossible correct titrations with decinormal solutions.
1965 C. S. G. Phillips & R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chem. I. xiv. 545 Soft glasses are made by adding soda to the silica. About 25 per cent soda reduces the viscosity of a glass by a factor of 1010.
2002 G. McLaren Studio Glass 28 Enamel is a soft glass with a low melting temperature that contains metallic oxides that provide the colouring ingredient.
e. Of an oil or fat: having a relatively low melting point, owing to a high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids; spec. designating a liquid fraction of palm oil. Contrasted with hard adj. 1k.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > oiliness or greasiness > [adjective] > of the nature of oil > soft at ordinary temperatures
soft1830
1830 W. T. Brande Man. Chem. (ed. 3) II. viii. 480 Cold alcohol dissolves the volatile and the soft oil, and leaves the harder oil.
1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 242 The several kinds of crude paraffin..are classed as ‘hard scale’ or ‘soft scale’, according to their fusing points and consequent degrees of hardness at ordinary temperatures.
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 43 In the trade it [sc. palm-oil] is called ‘hard’ when it contains a larger proportion of ‘stearine’, ‘soft’ when it contains a smaller proportion.
1984 Jrnl. Afr. Hist. 25 321 Soft oil had a free fatty acid content of 8–10 per cent compared to 30 per cent in the case of hard oil.
2002 Gastronomica Winter 52/1 There is soft, unrefined [palm] oil, which is liquid at room temperature.
f. Of a contact lens: made of a flexible (rather than rigid) material.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > ophthalmology or optometry > aids to defective vision > [adjective] > types of contact lens
soft1964
gas-permeable1969
1964 Highlights Ophthalmol. 7 252 (heading) The new hydrophilic gel, soft, contact lenses.
1971 Time 31 May 46 I intend using the soft lenses on every patient I possibly can.
1999 D. F. Wallace Brief Interviews with Hideous Men 154 The young wife had spent an hour at the mirror in order to choose the shapeless blouse and slacks she wore, actually taking her soft contacts back out in order to wear her glasses as well.
2005 Independent on Sunday 5 June 5/5 They do not dry out as quickly as ordinary soft lenses and are more comfortable.
13. Of pottery and porcelain: made from a paste made with clay (in the case of porcelain typically white clay and ground glass) and fired at a low temperature. See also software n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [adjective] > manufactured in specific way
soft1802
thrown1853
ring-built1953
1802 Jrnl. Nat. Philos., Chem. & Arts Oct. 106 The assertion that the colours of porcelain are subject to considerable change, relates to the colours of soft porcelain, (porcelain tendre).
1834 M. H. Bloxam Glimpse Monumental Archit. & Sculpt. i. 15 A drinking cup of soft pottery, rudely ornamented.
1859 R. Hunt Guide Mus. Pract. Geol. (ed. 2) 92 The English porcelain is, what is called, soft porcelain, and is composed of three elements, Kaolin and Cornish China stone—with bone ashes.
1909 Chambers's Jrnl. 585/1 It is..essential for the collector to be able to differentiate between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ porcelain.
1964 H. Munsterberg Ceramic Art Japan iii. 45 Faience, a term..used to describe a soft earthenware covered with a lead glaze.
2000 S. von Drachenfels Art of Table iii. 47 The European search for the secret of hard-paste porcelain led to the development of soft porcelain.
14. Originally and chiefly Sport. Of a shot, strike, blow, etc.: lacking in force or speed.soft toss: see soft toss n. at Compounds 2a.
ΚΠ
1858 W. White Billiards 71 Strike ball 1 with ball A a half ball, with a little side stroke to the left—a soft stroke and you will make what is called a jenny.
1884 Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 14 Jan. 4/6 After repeated attempts, Goodheart, by a soft shot, scored a goal for his side.
1927 Boys' Life June 17/2 After a few soft pitches Ernie finally started a wind-up and put everything he had behind the ball.
1975 A. Ulanov & B. Ulanov Relig. & Unconscious xii. 243 A soft blow to the rump or a hard one across the shoulders.
1981 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 21 Aug. They must have been pretty soft punches. Usually, a guy takes that many, he's down and bleeding.
2006 Bristol Post (Nexis) 15 May 28 Sami Hyypia sends a soft shot to Hislop's left which the West Ham keeper easily saves.
III. Gentle, sympathetic, or compassionate in character, and related senses.Typically figurative uses of senses in branch II.
15.
a. Of a person: gentle or sympathetic in nature or character; inclined to be merciful, lenient, or considerate in dealing with others; free from harshness or severity; compassionate, kind, tender-hearted.Passing into, or not always clearly distinguishable from, sense 17a. See also sense 17c.the soft(er) sex: see sex n.1 Phrases 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > fellow feeling > [adjective] > sympathetic > specifically of persons
softlOE
sympathetica1718
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1114 He wæs swiðe god & softe man & dyde mycel to gode.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 He milde man was & softe & god.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 668 Godess enngell iss full meoc. & milde. & soffte. & bliþe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9369 Þa wes Vðer Pendragun þa softer [c1300 Otho sohtere] an his mode.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 991 Als he was strong, so was he softe.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 2734 Thou schalt be soft in compaignie Withoute Contek or Folhaste.
c1450 (a1400) R. Lavynham Treat. Seven Deadly Sins (Harl. 211) (1956) 13 (MED) Hit behouyth..goddis seruawnt to..be buxham to alle..& softe of maneris & of beryng.
c1525 Rule St. Francis in J. S. Brewer & R. Howlett Monumenta Franciscana (1882) II. 68 (MED) Thei be meke, peasible, softe, gentille, and curteis.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. App. i. 256 Na peple was sa gracious and soft in punissing of þare transgressouris or subdittis as þai wer.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 223 This king..saw that as seueir punisment drewe vicious persounis frome vice; sa to be saft, and ouersie, prouokes thame daylie mair.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus iii. 2 A soft man is..one that will not be so hard in his dealing, as sometime by strict lawe he might.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 146 The soft Napæan Race will soon repent Their Anger, and remit the Punishment. View more context for this quotation
1751 Ld. Chesterfield Let. Mar. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1692 At the first impulse of passion be silent till you can be soft.
1779 True Loyalist or Chevalier's Favourite 26 Fierce as a lion uncontrol'd, As an angel soft and kind, Merciful and just is he.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. xiv. 316 He..was very soft and gentle with the children.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 314 They now began to consider that..Neuchamp had been considerate, or, in their phraseology, ‘soft,’ to an extent altogether unprecedented.
1933 H. G. Wells Bulpington of Blup vi. 204 She was softer and gentler than she had ever been before.
1961 I. Khan Jumbie Bird iv. 55 You don't have to be afraid, my mother won't bite you. She's nice and soft.
2009 Stud. East European Thought 61 283 Boys were taught how to be strong and masculine and girls—how to be soft, caring, and feminine.
b. Of an animal: easily controlled, docile; (depreciative) lacking in spirit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by nature > [adjective] > docile
tamec888
hand-tameOE
softc1175
sober1398
mansuetea1525
sedate1791
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1312 Forr lamb iss soffte. & stille deor & meoc. & milde.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 344 (MED) Dvc Oliuer him rideþ out of þat plas in a softe amblere.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. c. 1251 Whanne he [sc. a bull] is ytyed vnder a figge tree he leseþ and leueþ al his fersnesse and is sodeinly sobre and softe.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 619 (MED) Sir Trystram..bestrode a soffte ambular and rode to kynge Marke.
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.i She is as softe as a lamme yf one do her meue.]
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ iii. iv. 54 Conversing with the soft horses of England, I beleeve he will quickly be brought to be more courteous.
1720 J. Gay Dione iii. v, in Poems 494 Sure the soft lamb hides rage within his breast.
1864 E. Mayhew Illustr. Horse Managem. 483 A soft species of creature, which gentlemen find it cheaper to hire than to buy.
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 15 Sept. 2/3 An English jockey speaks with contempt of ‘a soft brute’; when a toreador..speaks of a soft brute, he says it has ‘drunk mud’.
1943 I. Wolfert Tucker's People xxvii. 467 He just looked tough, but inside he was as soft as a pussy cat asleep..in cream.
1997 Guardian 16 July ii. 8/1 He is renowned for his kind-heartedness in adopting stray animals, great slobbering soft dogs..which he addresses exclusively in Hebrew.
†c. Not making a noise; quiet; silent. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent
coyc1330
stone-still1338
quietc1384
softa1393
peacec1400
swownc1400
tongueless1447
clumc1485
mutec1500
whist1513
silent1542
dead1548
husht1557
whisted1557
whust1558
whust1558
whisht1570
huisht1576
quiet (also mum, mute, still, etc.) as a mouse (in a cheese)1584
fordead1593
noiseless1608
whisha1612
dumba1616
soundlessa1616
st1655
silentish1737
defta1763
sleeping1785
untoned1807
mousy1812
soughless1851
deathlike1856
whisperless1863
deathly1865
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 2564 (MED) Thei speken alle, and sche was softe, Thenkende on thilke unkynde Pride.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 462 Softe, or esy wythe owte grete dene.., tranquillus.
c1450 J. Lydgate Stans Puer (Lamb. 853) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 31 At mete & at soper kepe þee stille & softe.
a1550 in R. Dyboski Songs, Carols & Other Misc. Poems (1908) 130 Besy in stody be þou, child,..& at bedde, softe & sadde.
d. Gentle in speech or looks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adjective] > in speech or looks
softa1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 24078 Faire he was & fre,..soft in speche.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 139 (MED) A kynge sholde be good of Speche and Softe in worde.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 117 Þat man ys..wel dysposyd in kynde, þat..ys..softe yn lokynge [L. est..mitis aspectus].
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) xxix. f. 49v That man semeth good, that is meke and gentyll of condition, softe in wordes [Fr. doulx en ses parolles], and restefull in his persone.
1599 tr. A. de Pontaymeri Womans Woorth f. 20v Wee must confesse, that melancholly men are softer in words, then the swarthie and sanguine.
1606 H. Holland & E. Topsell Hist. Adam iii. f. 144v Hee was soft in his answeres, and calme in all speeches to all his most bloudy enemies.
1766 T. Joel Poems & Lett. in Prose 14 Prudence, soft in Speech, and mild in Mien, Holds out a faithful Mirrour to the Queen.
1784 J. Hanway NewYear's Gift 103 Hard in argument, and soft in words; cautious not to entertain prejudices.
a1829 E. D. Griffin in Remains (1831) I. 112 In carriage courteous, meek, and mild, Humble in speech, and soft in look.
1891 Temple Bar Dec. 495 The portraits published after his death idealised him into an inspired sort of being of angelic appearance, large-eyed, dreamy, soft in expression.
1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet i. i. 21 He was soft in appearance like Varner himself, though a head shorter.
2015 L. L. Bethel Citadelle x. 165 The quiet voice of a patriot, soft in speech, quiet in manner, yet strong in will, left an imprint on the American conscience.
16.
a. Of disposition, qualities, feelings, etc.: characterized by gentleness, sympathy, or compassion; free from harshness or severity.See also sense 17c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > [adjective]
nesheOE
softc1175
mild-hearteda1200
fleshlyc1384
tendera1400
fleshy1526
warm1526
tender-hearted1539
meltingc1565
nice-hearted1571
soft-hearted1571
effeminate1594
tenderful1901
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adjective] > of qualities or feelings
softc1175
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2899 Swa ðatt te millce nohht ne be To soffte. ne to nesshe.
?a1300 Loue is Sofft (Digby) l. 1 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 107 (MED) Loue is sofft, loue is swet, loue is goed sware.
a1450 (c1400–25) H. Legat Serm. Passion in D. M. Grisdale 3 Middle Eng. Serm. (1939) 15 (MED) In erthe pes & reste to men þat bun of soft wil.
?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Harl. 6579) i. viii. f. 5 (MED) And þanne bi þe grace of þe holy gost, is illumined for to see bi vndirstandynge..gostli þinges with a soufte, swete, brenninde luf in him.
1574 T. Tymme tr. J. de Serres Three Partes Comm. Ciuill Warres Fraunce iii. vii. 33 The Prince of himselfe was of a myld and soft disposition, desirous of peace.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. E3 Soft pittie enters at an iron gate. View more context for this quotation
1629 W. Davenant Trag. Albovine iv. i. sig. H4v Know, Sir, that I haue lou'd you long; lou'd you With soft and tender passion.
1696 T. Sprat Disc. Clergy 52 What can more adorn your Evangelical Ministry, than a soft, melting, compassionate, Fellow-feeling, merciful Habit, and Disposition of Mind?
1746 J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 147 A heart susceptible of the softest, most compassionate emotions.
1781 W. Cowper Table Talk 484 If human woes her soft attention claim.
1812 J. Kenney Turn out! ii. 41 Ancient history! ah! what has ancient history to excite the soft sympathies of the soul?
1837 M. Mackay Family at Heatherdale iii. 41 Ellen's disposition was soft and amiable.
1872 A. Giberne Aimée xxvii. 302 With all her soft shyness, she expects no inconsiderable amount of attention.
1903 K. Tynan Red, Red Rose v. 53 Mrs. Searle received Hilary with the soft kindness which was natural to her.
1948 M. Irwin Elizabeth, Captive Princess xxi. 180 He..stood four-square with his thumbs in his belt as if defying any softer impulse to get the better of him.
2006 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 15 Sept. f2 Dr. Lam..spoke with soft concern. ‘In the western world, we are not trained for what you are going through, Mr. Moss.’
b. Of appearance, etc.: suggesting or indicative of a gentle, sympathetic, or compassionate nature; expressing kindness or affection.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adjective] > of look
softa1393
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 619 (MED) Evere his chiere is sobre and softe, And where he goth he blesseth ofte.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1220 (MED) For feigned semblant is so softe, Unethes love may be war.
a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) l. 1899 (MED) Thoo answerd she ful graciouslie, With myld chere soft and still.
1604 J. Marston Malcontent ii. iii. sig. D Pray yee, as may be; Make frightlesse entrance, salute her with soft eyes.
1664 T. Killigrew 2nd Pt. Thomaso i. v, in Comedies & Trag. 395 You may read a real heart in her eyes;..her very looks are soft and kind.
1733 T. Newcomb Manners of Age x. 478 Tho' shape and form may strike the ravish'd sight, Soft features warm, and sprightly sense delight.
1788 C. Smith Emmeline IV. xiii. 312 Were you to..look at him with those soft eyes, as if you tenderly felt his sorrows, I am not sure whether the most unreasonable jealousy would not possess me.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor ix, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 272 A flush of less soft expression..resumed predominance when he mentioned how meanly he was provided for the entertainment of his guests.
1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths II. xviii. 280 She found his soft, pensive eyes looking at her.
1964 Hudson Rev. 17 190 She had straight, almost severe features that clashed with the soft smile she gave the waiter when he brought her Scotch and water.
2006 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 4 Nov. 30 Frazier has the sheepish, soft expression of an easily embarrassed son.
c. colloquial. Of an act: characterized by gentleness, sympathy, etc., to a degree considered excessive or foolish.Also influenced by sense 22.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [adjective] > foolishly
soft1839
1839 Examiner 24 Nov. 737/1 It may be most desirable that the Globe should take the leaders of the Tory party under its care, provided it be with the same success with which it sometimes does the same soft thing for the chiefs of the Liberal party.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 261 Helping other people along the road of life..a thundering soft thing it is, in a general way.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 315 He..did a soft thing in bringing these chaps here.
1991 New Yorker 11 Mar. 56/1 I'll do all kinds of soft things, normal return-of-favor situations.
17.
a. Easily moved to affection or sympathy; susceptible to pity or pleading; soft-hearted, sentimental.Not always clearly distinguishable from the wider senses 15a and 16a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [adjective]
softc1175
mild-hearteda1200
moll1386
tender-hearted1539
melch-hearted1552
tenderly1567
feeling1583
frail1590
tender1595
tender-minded1608
sensible1631
high-strung1653
emollid1656
tender-natured1656
sensitive1735
sentimental1749
soulful1837
weak-hearted1841
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1461 Ȝiff þin herrte iss arefull. & milde. & soffte. & nesshe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12086 Þer custe uader þene sune..suster custe suster þa softere heom wes an heorten.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) iv. 127 His herte wexed softe, & began to wepe full sore.
?1532 T. Paynell tr. Erasmus De Contemptu Mundi xi. sig. N.iij Take hede that thou be nat rather tender and softe.
1643 H. Glapthorne White-hall sig. B4v The Iron Souldier that 'ith rage of warre Nere wept, when all his body was one scarre.., now does..like a soft Virgin, weep.
1662 W. Greenhill Expos. 19 Last Chapters Ezekiel xxxvi. 345 There be some soft natures which can weep, shed tears in abundance for losse of Relations, Estates, Favours of great Ones, yet never wept for sin; these have a natural tenderness, not a spirituall.
1713 R. Steele in Guardian 31 Mar. 2/1 Concerning the soft Disposition and Generosity of his Master.
1795 R. Cumberland Henry II. v. vii. 162 How could a heart so soft and sensitive as her's reflect on all that you had suffer'd..and not melt with sympathy?
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. ii. i. 45 The soft young heart adopts orphans.
1880 L. B. Walford Troublesome Daughters I. ix. 187 He found himself quite soft on the subject.
1924 C. Gray Surv. Contemp. Mus. 185 The general public has taken to its great soft heart the necrophilistic ardours of the Valse Triste.
1980 S. Raven Inch of Fortune x. 102 Bellamy was so soft he cried whenever he left anyone he'd been with for more than a day.
2001 A. Murray Narrowboat Girl 2005 xiv. 131 Flo had been soft and emotional over babby Cissie.
b. Easily influenced or swayed; having little power of resistance to the influence of other persons or things; compliant; impressionable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > weak in character or will
nesheOE
feeblec1200
softc1275
weaka1425
infirm1526
lithya1533
unheaded1577
spiritless1595
pappy1597
irresolute1600
marrowless1607
seducible1613
wax-nosedc1615
unsinewy?1623
reedy1628
swayable1642
short-spirited1647
weak-headed1654
lath-backed1676
will-less?1680
tiffany-trader1702
weak-minded1716
lax1751
lax-fibred1762
nerveless1783
wishy-washy1801
marcid1822
molluscous1836
boneless1848
weedy1849
putty-headed1857
flabby1862
weak-kneed1863
fibreless1864
invertebrate1867
chinless1881
backboneless1882
featherweight1885
spineless1885
weak-willed1885
totter-kneed1887
akratic1896
effete1905
weakling1906
gutless1915
willowish1919
Milquetoast1932
nannified1960
ball-less1967
society > authority > subjection > obedience > manageability > [adjective] > tractable > easily
softc1275
facilea1530
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1350 Þah sum wif beo of nesche mode, For wummon beoþ of softe blode.
c1400 Apocalypse St. John: B Version (Harl. 171) (1971) 44 (MED) Þat her heeris was as of wymmen, is þat þei [sc. locusts] schal be softe & liȝt to turne to yuel.
1530 T. Elyot tr. Plutarch Educ. Children iii. sig. B.iii That very yonge age is tender & facile to be wrought: and lernynge is beste instylled and brought in wittes, wheles they be softe and delycate.
1558 J. Knox First Blast against Monstruous Regiment Women f. 23v Womankinde is imprudent and soft, (or flexible)..because she is easelie bowed.
1639 J. Saltmarsh Pract. Policie 178 In a businesse of passion and affection be suspitious of yourselfe and company, for in such cases you are most open and soft to advantages.
1649 Εἰκων Βασιλικη 116 Divines, (of so soft and servile tempers, as disposed them to so sudden acting and compliance).
1751 E. Haywood Hist. Betsy Thoughtless II. v. 58 Miss Betsy was of so soft and tractable a disposition, that half the arguments miss Flora had alledged, would..have won her to consent.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. 36 A heart, too soft from early life To hold with fortune needful strife.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 543 His soft mind had, as usual, taken an impress from the society which surrounded him.
1901 W. B. Wilcox Through Luzon on Highways & Byways iii. 81 Their character is soft and submissive to superiors, but arrogant to inferiors.
1952 A. P. Davies Temptation to be Good xii. 119 They have forgotten how to be indignant. This is not because they are overflowing with human kindness but because they are morally soft and compliant.
2011 C. Tóibín Empty Family (2012) 102 I remembered, during that scene, how soft and biddable alcohol used to make him when he discovered it first.
c. In figurative expressions in which a person's tendency to be affectionately sympathetic or sentimental, or compliant and impressionable, is represented as a weak or yielding place in his or her heart, etc., esp. in soft place, soft side, soft spot (see soft spot n.).
ΚΠ
1678 V. Alsop Melius Inquirendum ii. viii. 309 A tender Conscienced person is one that has a soft place in's Head.
1697 W. Penn Let. 22 Nov. in Papers (1986) III. 528 I could not have hurt Colonel Nicholsons Trust, to have Shewed us..his fairer and softer side.
1697 ‘Philaret’ Challenge xxi. 233 She finds it most convenient, and according as his Heart is unguarded, and his soft side lies open.
1753 J. Collier Ess. Art of Tormenting ii. iii. 138 The man who has a soft place in his heart.
1795 R. Cumberland Henry I. ii. xi. 189 For my part, my good lad, I have such a soft side towards you, that if you will buckle to the business, and observe what I shall teach you, I will make a man of you.
1845 Foreign Q. Rev. 36 118 So much has been said of the sternness and harshness of [J. G.] Fichte's character, that had we more space we might feel tempted to give a glance at its softer side as exhibited in his letters to this lady.
1887 Times (Weekly ed.) 30 Sept. 8/2 Cave..had got the softer side of some of the doorkeepers of the House of Commons.
1894 R. D. Blackmore Perlycross I. iv. 46 Mr. Penniloe had a very soft place in his heart for this young lady.
1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men 14 This is a book..written for all those who have a soft place in their hearts for the laughter and tears inherent in poverty viewed at a distance.
1974 Thomasville (Georgia) Times-Enterprise 30 July 4/3 It's possible to imagine Spiro Agnew doing that. Which is why I always had a soft place in my head for him.
2005 Sydney Morning Herald 18 Feb. (Metro section) 26/1 The Melbourne artist has been exploring the soft side of hard men in a series of video installations called Tears for What was Done.
18.
a. Not strong or robust; incapable of much physical endurance or exertion; of a weak or delicate constitution; frail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > weak > of constitution
neshOE
tender?c1225
softa1387
delicatea1398
nicec1450
slendera1500
weak?1523
dainty1562
fine1562
cockney1573
weakly1577
dough-baked1592
lax1732
flimsy1742
lax-fibred1762
doughy1763
dauncy1846
fragile1858
slim1877
chétif1908
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > [adjective] > lax in duty
softa1387
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 467 (MED) Olde men beeþ softe and wexeþ feble [L. gaudet..imbecillitate canities].
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 701 (MED) Euery man..yborn..may not gon, his lymes be so softe, Bot as his moder bereth hym.
1521 tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Cyte of Ladyes i. xxvii. sig. Kk.v By howe moche that women haue the body more softe than ye men haue, and lesse habyle to do dyuers thynges by so moche they haue the vnderstandynge more sharpe.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. x. xv. f. cxlvii/1 Be thir lawis ye pepill wer maid within schort tyme of lichorus glutonis temperat men, of soft bodyis reddy to suffir laubouris.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 10 Neither are they fit for warfarre and to beare armes, whose bodies having beene daintily brought up in the shade and within house, are corpulent, and of a soft and delicate constitution.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. C6 Soft and sedentary men must abstaine from it, it being fit only for porters, ploughmen, and mariners.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 69 There Euphrates her soft Off-spring Arms. View more context for this quotation
1781 W. Cowper Anti-Thelypthora 177 She, regardless of her softer kind, Seiz'd fast the saddle.
1841 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 3) ii. iv. 289 If the individual..is of a soft, sluggish, lymphatic temperament, which stands in need of a healthy stimulus.
1850 A. Jameson Legends Monastic Orders 51 In those days the coasts of England were, to the soft Italians, a kind of Siberia for distance and desolation.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. xi. 135 Our horses had been doing nothing lately, and..had, of course, got fat, and were rather soft.
1922 Jrnl. Educ. (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 96 90/1 Any athlete who has been out of practice for a time is surprised that he is so ‘soft’ when he tries to come back.
1996 H. T. Snider One Sunny Day i. 9 This quality of hers had shocked others who least expected such strength from one so soft and frail in appearance.
b. depreciative. Weak in character, self-indulgent; (of a man or boy) effeminate, unmanly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > sex and gender > female > effeminacy > [adjective]
womanly?c1225
ferbleta1300
effeminatea1393
nicea1393
softc1450
manlessa1529
unmanly1534
cockney1573
effeminated1580
unmanlikea1586
milky1602
enervate1603
womanizing1615
emasculate1622
womanized1624
softly1643
womanlish1647
unmasculine1649
emollid1656
ladylike1656
enervated1660
emasculated1701
petticoated1708
tea-faced1728
effeminized1789
invirile1870
epicene1881
sissyish1889
sissified1898
devirilized1901
cockless1902
camp1909
pansy1929
campy1932
queenly1933
poncy1937
pansyish1941
swishy1941
moffie1954
poofy1956
femme1963
poofed-up1964
minty1965
ponced-up1970
lavender1979
c1450 Speculum Christiani (Harl. 6580) (1933) 70 (MED) Be ȝe not..softe delytable lyuers [L. molles].
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 105 (MED) This people whiche bifor tyme wer manly and worchippfull in armes wexed softe [Fr. mols] and delicate as women.
1533 tr. P. Valeriano Pro Sacerdotum Barbis f. 5 Scipio was euer called a softe [L. mollis] and a feminate felow, so that his delycate facion and strange apparell, neyther after the maner of the Romaynes, nor yet ware lyke, and also his great slouthe, is spoken of to this daye.
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. O.5 If you wold haue your sonne, softe, womannish,..affected to bawdrie, scurrilitie, filthie rimes, and vnsemely talking.., set him to dauncing school.
1620 Horæ Subseciuæ 82 In women, and men of soft and effeminated affections.
1628 T. Hobbes tr. Thucydides Peloponnesian War (1822) 94 The Lacedemonians..ever looked sourly on soft and loose behaviour.
1716 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad II. vi. 362 Sidonian Maids..Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xii. 348 He was soft yet cruel, devoted to pleasure, but destitute of taste.
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod Introd. p. xi Violent exercises..grew out of fashion.., and the education..became proportionably more soft and delicate.
1872 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 455/1 It looks so soft to say you won't fight.
1941 W. J. Cash Mind of South ii. ii. 157 They were no more capable of successfully encountering the situation than the softest and most squeamish of their countrymen.
1970 N.Y. Times 4 Jan. 16/3 The radicals were not wimpy intellectuals—soft, privileged hippies—but real fighters.
2003 X-Ray May 6/3 ‘The record is much better than Jarvis's stuff,’ Darren said. ‘His stuff used to be alright but then he went soft and poncified’.
c. Refined, delicate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > [adjective]
polisheda1382
dainteousc1386
polite?a1500
delicatea1533
courtly1535
civil1551
court-like1552
well-refined1575
nice1588
perpolite1592
politic1596
soft1599
terse1628
refine1646
refined1650
elegant1652
genteel1678
chastea1797
spirituala1806
aesthetic1844
nicey1859
raffiné1865
nuttish1869
too-tooa1884
sophisticated1895
lavender1928
1599 Fancies Ague-fittes ii. sig. C8v Our selues, who are trained and brought vp in softe and delicate manner.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. ii. 107 + 3 An absolute gentleman,..of very soft society, and great showing.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 320 For your seruice done him,..So farre beneath your soft and tender breeding. View more context for this quotation
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. ii. xxiv. 58 They say in a pretty popular manner, that..it is impossible to afford them too much Kindness, which is the soft and sparkish Expression they use in speaking of what we vulgarly call Dung.
1794 A. M. Bennett Ellen I. xi. 150 Her person grew delicate, and her air became..easy and elegant; her manners..were soft and politely refined.
1863 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 382 As he realized the charm of her refinement, her soft breeding, he asked himself more than once if that was indeed his wife?
1976 G. Rabassa tr. G. G. Márquez Autumn of Patriarch (2006) 200 But his nighttime decisions fell apart the moment Sainz de la Barra came into the office and he would succumb to the dazzle of his soft manners.
19. Of words, language, etc.
a. Not harsh, angry, or offensive; tending to tone down or minimize something unpleasant; courteous; conciliatory; mild. Also: not unacceptably forceful or strong. N.E.D. (1913) interpreted quot. c1390 as showing sense 2b; although the precise sense is uncertain, it seems from the context more likely to belong here.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > pleasing
gentc1390
softc1390
lusty1399
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. ix. l. 112 He was..to loken on ful symple,..Sad of his semblaunt and of softe speche.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 350 Þe bischope mode was all mesyd, Þe whene with soft wordes he plesyd.
1565 T. Harding Confut. Apol. Church of Eng. ii. viii. f. 76 For ciuilities sake I could be contente sometimes to spare you, and where ye make manifest lyes, to vse a softer word, and terme them fittens.
1660 E. Waterhouse Disc. Arms & Armory 38 'Tis very convenient to use a soft Pen, and to offer probable truth with no dictator-like confidence.
1684 T. Burnet Theory of Earth i. iii. 18 We will..by a soft answer deaden their force by degrees.
1710 J. Addison Whig Examiner No. 5. ⁋3 They have stated this case in the softest and most palatable terms it will bear.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xxvii. 286 You have soft words for hard meanings.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) IV. 161 Ambassadors were sent to Agis, to propose alliance with Sparta—a softer term for subjection.
1869 A. Trollope He knew he was Right I. xxxii. 257 If there was anything in what your wife did to offend you, a soft word from you would have put it all right.
1930 Washington Post 26 Sept. 4/1 The wets favored an outspoken demand for repeal of the eighteenth amendment, while the dry minority sought to use a softer synonym.
1989 Times 29 July 3/2 Films appropriate for the 12-plus age group were being made for an American audience which was inured to soft expletives.
2015 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 27 Nov. 18 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receives subdued and soft criticism in some circles.
b. Soothing, gentle; (with negative sense) ingratiating, flattering.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [adjective] > sentimental > of words
softa1393
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > [adjective] > of words or manners
fairOE
honeyed1435
glozed1509
fair-tongued1541
fine1568
smoothed1568
smoothinga1592
sugary1591
slicked1594
rose water1598
rose-watered1599
candied1604
soft1609
courtlya1616
smooth-faced1626
oileda1640
blandished1671
sugar1687
fair-spoken1704
smooth-tongued1761
silky1778
pill-gilded1822
blarneyfied1830
greasy1848
blarneyed1861
soothering1866
soothing-syrupy1902
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 915 (MED) He with softe wordes milde Conforteth hire.
a1450 (?c1350) Pride of Life l. 320 in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 100 (MED) Madam, I make no tariyng With softe wordis mo.
c1480 (a1400) St. Christina 46 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 399 Þane hir fadire kissit hir ofte, & gluthryt hir with vordis softe.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. v. A For the lippes of an harlot are a droppinge hony combe, and hir throte is softer then oyle.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke 193 b Is it not a woorde softer then honey, to saie haill maister?
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xviii. 39 No vizor does become blacke villanie, So well as soft and tender flatterie. View more context for this quotation
1650 J. Sheffield Good Conscience xxv. 358 Take heed then of harbouring this Guest,..sin; it will.., after soft language, & sugred entertainment, in thy sleep assault thee.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 118. ⁋2 The Huntsman..whispered the softest Vows of Fidelity in her Ear, and cried [etc.].
1773 O. Goldsmith She stoops to Conquer ii. 41 What soft things are you saying to your cousin..?
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xxxiv The coaxing tones of Bridget's voice, inviting Andy, in the softest words, to go to bed.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate I. ix. 209 He was fond of saying soft things which were intended to have no meaning.
1913 E. M. Dell Rocks of Valpré ii. iv. 238 There followed such a storm of tears that Bertrand was forced to abandon all attempts to reason with her, and could only kneel and whisper soft endearments.
1951 G. Heyer Quiet Gentleman ix. 140 Miss Bolderwood, do not be taken-in by these soft words!
2000 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 25 June 3 His mother's soft entreaties for him to behave himself went ignored.
c. Expressive of gentleness, tenderness, or tranquillity. Also of a person: expressing such a feeling or mood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > semi-fluidity > [adjective]
slabby1542
pottagy1565
uliginous1576
softa1593
slabbery1600
creamy1610
slutchy1627
slabberish1648
pappy1662
semifluid1775
sloppy1794
sloshy1797
custardy1824
viscous1830
gruelly1838
sposhy1842
squishy1847
squitchy1851
pea-soupy1859
porridgey1859
soupy1869
custardly1870
gloopy1929
gunky1937
spawn-like1938
squodgy1970
gloppy1976
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [adjective] > sentimental
softa1593
sentimental1765
a1593 C. Marlowe tr. Ovid All Elegies (c1602) sig. A2v Loue slackt my Muse, and made my numbers soft [L. numeris levioribus].
1647 R. Stapleton in tr. Musaeus Loves Hero & Leander (new ed.) sig. D He had writ so many soft and melting Love-Poëms; never equalled by the Latins.
a1704 T. Brown Oration in Praise Drunkenness in Wks. (1707) I. i. 54 Anacreon was famous for a Bottle, as he was soft and pleasing in his Poetry.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 369. ¶19 Some Passages are beautiful by being Sublime, others by being Soft.
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes (new ed.) I. i. xvi. 26 Shall the Muse again To softer Numbers tune her melting Strain.
1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lxiv. 35 Soft Persian sentences, in lilac letters, From poets, or the moralists their betters.
1885 J. G. Dalton Lyra Bicyclica (ed. 2) 153 When in a state of puffed laudation Soft poets of the period shine.
1927 R. A. Taylor Leonardo Florentine 163 Cecilia..keeps her court of scholars and poets, and makes her pensive soft sonnets.
1956 S. Bertensson & J. Leyda Sergei Rachmaninoff i. xii. 201 In the Etudes, opus 39, Rachmaninoff appears in a new light. The soft lyricist begins to employ a more severe, concentrated, and deepened mode of expression.
2005 P. A. Miller Lat. Verse Satire (2009) 200 This kind of poetry is traditionally embodied within the Roman universe of genres by the soft verse of elegy.
20. Of actions, means, etc.: moderate or restrained in character; carried on, performed, etc., without harshness, severity, or violence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > not harsh or gentle
meekc1230
nesha1250
tender1340
softa1398
sober1455
gentle1508
silken1601
milken1648
rose water1837
paddy1962
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xxiii. 124 Þe puls is igropid..in a strong man & fleisschy with strong and hard handelinge, and a lener man and feble with esy and softe handelinge [L. remissius & leniori pressione].
c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 50 They toke Geffray de Lazynyen in the softest wyse that they myght.
1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §42. m. 26 Of his pitie intending to reduce theym therunto by softer meanes then by such extreme riguor.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 2487 (MED) Wherfore welle springis with strokis softe Soberly make ye most in tymes ofte.
1588 T. Kyd tr. T. Tasso Housholders Philos. f. 13 To aduise thee..not [to] bring them vp vnder so soft and easie discipline, as they become..milke sops.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. ii. 82 Thou,..being bred in broyles, Hast not the soft way, which..Were fit for thee to vse. View more context for this quotation
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Contempl. & Reflexions upon Psalms in Coll. Several Tracts (1727) 605 Since they will not..entertain that soft Approach of his Grace towards their Conversion, he hath a rougher Remedy to apply.
1757 T. Gray Ode I i. ii, in Odes 6 The..frantic Passions hear thy soft controul.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 510 When the temper'd heat..may afford Soft fomentation, and invite the seed.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. v. i. 218 The two fly-wheels whirl in the softest manner.
1882 ‘J. R. H. Hawthorne’ Launching Away xviii. 190 I declined to go to law, and took the softer course of writing a polite explanatory letter to the erring editor.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. lxxxvii. 161 They are disposed to try soft means at first.
1924 W. A. White Woodrow Wilson xvi. 358 Wilson gathered around him men of the soft approach.
2001 Guardian 27 Apr. i. 27/4 But in trying to effect a soft succession,..Sir Christopher risks throwing away the one thing this company so desperately needs: a culture of change.
21.
a. Of a person: not rigid, severe, or strict in belief or practice; willing to compromise, flexible; not fundamentalist. Sometimes depreciative, with the implication that the person is lax in performing duties or upholding beliefs.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of strictness > [adjective]
largeda1382
softc1405
largea1450
laxc1450
remissa1500
milda1530
gentle1533
slender1577
relax1609
unconstraining1644
unoppressive1648
inoppressive1661
unaustere1741
undespotic1821
light-touch1949
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Physician's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 101 Vnder a Shepherde softe and necligent The wolf hath many a sheep and lomb to rent.
1565 T. Stapleton tr. F. Staphylus Apologie f. 147 The zelous, roughe, and rigorous Lutherans cleauing fast to euery iote and parcell of Luthers doctrine..: and the ciuill, softe and Philosophicall Lutherans.
1602 R. Parsons Warn-word i. vi. f. 54v Ridged or strayt Caluinists (commonly called Puritans) and the softer sort of the same Caluinian sect, who are distinguished from the others by the name of moderate Protestants.
1694 tr. G. Daniel Disc. Cleander & Eudoxus 61 The division of directors into two sorts, the one rigid and severe, the others soft and complesant.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 360 Lord Ancram said, I might be what I pleased, if I would be a little softer in the points of religion.
1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell iii. l. 315 Some..think him herein too Rigid:..Others have censured him for being too Soft.
1862 G. F. Train Union Speeches II. 26/1 The man who is soft on the American question is soft on all questions.
1868 ‘F. Fern’ Folly as it Flies 37 Perhaps I am a little soft in this matter.
1961 P. Blanshard Future of Catholic Power 14 The press of the United States, with the collaboration of several soft Protestant leaders in New York, treated the Weigel statement as an authentic revision of Catholic church-state policy.
1997 I. Enwerem in J. O. Oguejiofor & I. Enweh Ecclesia in Afr. ii. 44 The movement can be described as mainly a mild criticism of the Catholic Church's liturgical practices and, as such, its followers could easily be perceived as ‘soft Catholics’.
b. Of beliefs, laws, etc.: not rigid or strict; involving some compromise, flexible. Often in the comparative.the soft impeachment: see impeachment n. 4a.
ΚΠ
1661 J. Gauden Anti Baal-Berith: Binding of Covenant 78 They began to chew over the Covenant again, to see if it were more digestible in a softer sense then rigid and imperious Presbytery had dictated.
1685 R. Brady Compl. Hist. Eng. 160 Instead of rigorous Tenures, the more soft ones of Fee-Simple in all its kinds, and inheritable and qualified Copy-holds were introduced.
1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell iii. lxxiv. 388 He had been prevailed upon..to take the New Oath according to the Softer Sense.
1751 Ld. Kames Ess. Princ. Morality & Nat. Relig. i. 201 The Platonics, Academics and Epicureans, who embraced a softer scheme of philosophy.
1891 Convent. Rec. Kentucky II. 2462/2 The question of the power to tax still follows the question, even under the soft system as put by the gentleman from Christian.
1956 N.Y. Times 27 July 23/3 Litigation would have been more difficult..if the ‘softer’ law favored by some New Castle officials had been adopted.
2010 Foreign Affairs 89 i. 99 Second- and third-generation Muslim youth are rebelling against the kind of ‘soft’ Islam practiced by their parents and promoted in local mosques. They favor what they think is the ‘purer’ Islam.
c. Politics. Designating a comparatively moderate faction of a political party or section of the political spectrum, typically in contrast with another that is more dogmatic or hard-line (see hard adj. 22c). Now chiefly in soft left.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > groups or attitudes right to left > [adjective] > moderate
moderate1702
non-militant1829
soft1844
1844 Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 2 Mar. The meeting was then amused by the reading of a sketch of the ‘Dog eat Dog’ war between the ‘Hard and Soft’ factions of the Loco Foco party.
1878 Washington Post 3 Apr. Upon financial questions Gen. Butler is rather identified with the soft wing of the Democratic party than with the Republicans.
1936 N.Y. Hist. 17 267 The ‘Soft’ wing of the Democracy renominated Horatio Seymour.
1970 D. Martin in M. W. Cranston New Left 179 ‘Consume more, live less’..is the general and by now familiar picture presented by the ‘soft left’.
1977 Economist 29 Oct. 12/2 To introduce capital punishment..would merely be a way of pressganging many members of Germany's soft left into the thinning ranks of its hard one.
1985 N.Y. Times Mag. 18 Aug. 8/4 Neo-con Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a soft-right, near-left Democrat, objected years ago to the Communist assumption of such words as people's, democratic, [etc.].
2011 Irish Times (Nexis) 4 Oct. 16 It was better for economic elites to compromise with the soft left rather than to risk the rise of the hard left.
22.
a. colloquial. Lacking intelligence or common sense; easily imposed on or deceived; foolish, silly. Also: mentally ill; having learning difficulties. See also soft in the head at Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [adjective]
sickc1340
dottlec1390
doting1489
dotish1509
feeble-minded1534
weak-brained1535
silly1568
fondish1579
lean-witted1597
soft1621
weaka1661
touched1697
muzzy-headed1798
defective1825
wanting1839
half-baked1842
dotty1860
knock-kneed1865
lean-minded1867
doddering1871
weak-minded1883
ninepence in the shilling1889
barmy1892
drippy1952
dipshit1968
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > simplicity, simple-mindedness > [adjective]
weak1423
simple-hearted?c1425
good1480
innocent1548
plain-headeda1586
simple1604
green1605
zany1616
soft1621
ungifted1637
softly1652
half-witted1712
simple-minded1749
simpletonic1780
simpletonian1800
sawney1805
simpletonish1819
simply disposed1848
putty-headed1857
cabbage-looking1898
goonish1921
wally1922
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > duping, making a fool of > [adjective] > gullible
weak1423
simple-minded1556
gullish1598
soft1621
cheatable1647
miscarriageablea1656
bubbleable1668
imposablea1734
cullible1811
gullable1817
humbuggable1819
gullible1825
dupable1833
pigeonable1844
fleeceable1868
bluffable1885
hoodwinkable1889
yobbish1910
mug1922
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iv. iv. 197 He made soft fellowes starke noddies, and such as were foolish, quite mad.
1628 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 3) i. ii. iii. xv. 120 Your greatest students are commonly no better, silly, soft fellowes.
1677 J. Shaw Origo Protestantium iv. 80 He was not at leisure to attend the serious discussion of that too hard Controversy for his soft Head.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Soft, foolish.
1725 N. Bailey tr. Erasmus All Familiar Colloquies 277 This is the only Thing that he's soft in, he's sharp as a Needle in any thing else.
1749 Conspirators iii. iii. 49 He is, indeed, a little soft; but it is no matter for that; as one is not obliged to be with one's Husband, always.
1775 F. Burney Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 188 He looks very soft, in the most extensive meaning (of the) Word, c'est (à) dire, in Temper, Person, & head.
1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. ii. 12 One of the Grantlys was,—to say the least of it,—very soft.
1945 Esquire Mar. 110/2 The four hours he tossed and groaned were the longest in my life. Doubt tormented me in my bedside vigil. Was Hep going soft? Cracking up?
1988 W. Russell One for the Road (rev. ed.) ii, in Shirley Valentine & One for the Road (1993) 94 Dennis. But none that I fancy Rodge. Rodger. Don't be soft, there must be.
2003 A. Sayle Overtaken 215 I'd indicate through hand signals and pencilled notes that I wasn't unhappy or anything, smiling and gesturing like a soft lad.
†b. regional. Drunk, inebriated. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
1737 B. Franklin Drinkers Dict. in Pennsylvania Gaz. 6–13 Jan. 2/2 He carries too much Sail, Stew'd, Stubb'd, Soak'd, Soft.
1836 C. Hooton Adventures Bilberry Thurland I. xxi. 337 When you've got a sup of ale, you're so soft.
1863 Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 2 July 3/6 Prisoner admitted stealing the prints, saying he supposed he took them when he was ‘drunk and soft’.
1929 C. McKay Banjo 9 They stopped there drinking until twilight. Ginger and Dengel became staggeringly soft that they decided to go back to the box car and sleep.
IV. In miscellaneous extended or figurative uses, chiefly in technical or specialist contexts.
23. Of a magnetizable material: readily magnetized by an ambient magnetic field but retaining no permanent magnetization in the absence of such a field.Difficult to distinguish from sense 12a in early use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > [adjective] > capable of magnetism > temporarily
soft1616
1616 W. Barlow Magneticall Aduertisements ix. 64 Concerning the waight that is to bee lifted vp, it is better to bee made of soft iron then of steele.
a1737 J. Hutchinson Glory or Gravity: 2nd Pt. in Philos. & Theol. Wks. (1749) XI. 341 Soft Iron will not attract the Filings of Iron after it is touched, but hard Iron will.
1776 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 66 266 A piece of soft iron attracts the two poles of a compass indiscriminately.
1839 G. Bird Elements Nat. Philos. 259 If a bar of soft iron be bent in the shape of the letter U.
1873 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magn. (1881) II. 44 If the magnetic properties of the iron depend entirely on the magnetic force of the field in which it is placed..it is called soft iron.
1948 F. Brailsford Magnetic Materials iv. 69 The most important source of internal strains in the higher grade soft magnetic materials is that due to the presence of impurities held in solution in the metal.
1957 Pop. Sci. Mar. 114/2 We were taught that ordinary soft iron was fine for electromagnets, but no good for permanent magnets.
1976 Nature 5 Feb. 381/1 In a few cases large randomly directed magnetically soft components were removed in low alternating fields.
2003 D. Clayton Handbk. Isotopes in Cosmos xxvi. 231 Iron is magnetically soft, meaning that its magnetization closely follows the strength of the magnetizing field.
24. Phonetics.
a. Designating vowels with a particular quality; spec. (a) = short adj. 13; (b) (of letters in Russian) indicating palatalized quality of the preceding consonant, or representing a vowel that regularly combines with such a consonant; (c) designating one of the classes of vowels in languages with vowel harmony. Also in non-technical use: designating vowel sounds regarded as euphonious.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > [adjective] > types of
openeOE
sharp?1533
simple1582
small1599
soft1625
obscurea1637
round1710
slender1755
close1760
wide1824
lowered1836
narrow1844
labialized1856
orinasal1856
central1857
reduced1861
free1864
high1867
low1867
mid1867
mixed1867
rounded1867
unrounded1871
raised1876
unreduced1894
obscured1897
spread1902
lax1909
slack1909
tense1909
centralized1926
flat1934
r-coloured1935
checked1943
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. xiiii. 247 Men in pronouncing of a language preferring pleasure before significancie, haue mollified it [sc. Hebrew], with soft vowells and aspirations, rather to serve the eare then vnderstanding.
1741 W. Benson Prefatory Disc. New Ed. Psalms of David Suppl. 25 Here the soft Vowel E is alliterated five Times.
1776 G. Campbell Philos. of Rhetoric II. iii. i. 253 An equal mixture of consonants with soft and monophthong vowels.
1827 J. Heard Gram. Russ. Lang. 4 There are eleven vowels in the Russian alphabet, which are divided into hard and soft.
1859 Phonetic Jrnl. 2 Apr. 159/1 The same sign is used [in Turkish] for a hard and soft vowel, but affixed to a different consonant.
1916 R. M. Dawkins Mod. Greek in Asia Minor ii. 41 In Greek,..the velars before a termination with a ‘soft’ or palatal vowel become themselves palatals.
1948 M. Bonham Casino ix. 83 They stayed talking for a time, Viner in his soft, broad Devon dialect and William in a voice in which the same soft vowels were supplanting the sharp tones of a London accent.
1981 B. Comrie Langs. Soviet Union ii. 69 In Even, the vowels are divided into two classes, traditionally referred to as hard (indicated by a subscript dot, except for a) and soft (no subscript; hard a corresponds to soft e). Each of the hard vowels is slightly lower and further back than its soft counterpart.
2006 New Yorker 15 May 34/2 Soft Lancashire vowels that bellow his cheeks out in startled-looking Os.
†b. Designating voiceless consonants: = hard adj. 18a. Obsolete.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > consonant > [adjective] > voiceless
softa1637
mute1668
flated1887
a1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. iv, in Wks. (1640) III The more generall sound [of f] is the softest; and expresseth the Greeke ϕ.
1736 R. Ainsworth Thes. Linguæ Latinæ II. at P P is only a softer b, and b an harder p,..the harder mute before a vowel passing into the softer before a consonant.
c. Designating voiced consonants as opposed to corresponding voiceless ones, e.g. /ɡ/, /d/, /b/ as opposed to /k/, /t/, /p/. Contrasted with hard adj. 18a.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > consonant > [adjective] > voiced
semi-spiritous1668
soft1668
intonable1864
flat1874
1668 O. Price Eng. Orthogr. 24 Except..the soft, s, in concision, circumcision.
1668 O. Price Eng. Orthogr. 24 But, th, makes a softer sound..in worthy, father.
1673 T. Lye Reading & spelling Eng. made Easie iv. 9 S round and soft like ez. 'Twixt Vowels two, in ends of words, lik zee, as in, sins, easy, present, sons, we see.
1767 G. Sharp Short Treat. Eng. Tongue App. 8 Th has two sounds, the one soft, as in Thy, the other hard..as in Thigh.
1845 Proc. Philol. Soc. 2 90 S is always hard, the soft sound of this letter being invariably represented by z.
1883 I. Taylor Alphabet II. 128 The Etruscan rejects the soft mutes b, g, d, and retains the aspirated mutes th, kh, ph.
1929 U. S. A. Heavener German New River Settlement 67 The variations of the name..are striking... We have Preis (soft S), Pruss, Preisch, Preinz, Prenz, and Price.
1960 E. W. Rosenheim What happens in Lit. i. 51 The soft (or voiced) s in both ‘oozings’ and the repeated ‘hours’ can be sustained longer than the great majority of the consonants in which our words end.
2010 D. Brewer Greece, Hidden Cent. Introd. p. xi The only unusual consonant sounds are:..dh a soft th as in then—but th a hard th as in thin.
d. Designating the letters c and g, when pronounced (esp. in English) as a fricative or affricate, such as /s/, /dʒ/, as opposed to the plosives /k/ and /ɡ/. Contrasted with hard adj. 18b.
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1673 T. Lye Reading & spelling Eng. made Easie iv. 9 G before e, i, y, commonly soft, as gee.
1700 A. Lane Key to Art of Lett. 5 Since different Sounds should in Reason have different Names leading to those Sounds, it would be much for the ease of young Scholars and their Teachers, to call c hard, kee; c soft, see.
1775 J. Walker Dict. Eng. Lang. Introd. 13 Shewing that the preceding c and g in these words are soft, which might possibly be mistaken, and pronounced hard, if written changable, peacable.
1833 L. Cobb Cobb's Expositor 6 The dentals are, t, d, s, x, and soft g or j.
1875 Nature 15 July 214/2 The instrument called the Plagiograph (the g to be pronounced soft).
1965 M. Follick Case for Spelling Reform xiii. 125 In Spanish the soft c is pronounced like English th; in Italian, the soft c is like ch in English, and in German it is ts.
2003 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 May 20/2 Vietnam veterans will recall a term for the intentional killing of a fellow servicemember: fragging (pronounced with a hard g), more recently called fragicide (soft g).
e. In Russian and some other Slavonic languages: designating palatalized consonants (see palatalized adj.). Cf. palatal adj. 1a.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by place or organ > [adjective] > palatal
palatine1656
linguapalatal1668
palatal1668
palatic1669
linguopalatal1818
anterior1830
soft1832
mouillé1833
palato-dental1844
palatalized1872
palato-velar1895
postpalatal1898
medio-palatal1900
clear1918
alveolo-palatal1928
lamino-palatal1966
1832 J. Bowring Cheskian Anthol. 80 If the soft consonant be either at the end of the word, or follow the a, o, or u, it is marked by an apostrophe.
1862 F. A. Wolski in J. Bryce Family Gazetteer p. viii/2 A soft consonant cannot be pronounced immediately before y.., and a hard one before i... Before all the other vowels, as well as before consonants, or at the end of syllables, a consonant may be either hard or soft, and hence the necessity of a distinct mark for the latter.
1915 J. F. Baluta Pract. Handbk. Polish Lang. iii. 70 Masculine nouns ending in a soft consonant..are declined as follows.
1993 R. A. Rothstein in B. Comrie & G. G. Corbett Slavonic Langs. xii. 693 The class of morphophonemically soft consonants includes both synchronically soft (palatal and palatalized) consonants and synchronically hard consonants that were once soft.
25. Of naturally occurring or treated water: containing relatively low concentrations of dissolved calcium and magnesium salts and thus lathering easily with soap. Frequently in soft water. Contrasted with hard adj. 19.
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the world > matter > liquid > water > [adjective] > properties or characteristics of water > not containing mineral
soft1691
unmineralized1757
freestone1805
1691 T. Tryon Wisdom's Dictates 146 Dry Pease being boiled in plenty of good soft Water, being seasoned with Salt and Butter, makes a substantial Dish of Food.
1733 Dugdale & P. Shaw tr. B. Varenius et al. Compl. Syst. Gen. Geogr. I. xvi. 322 The Elbe is a soft Water River, as we may call it, which..is owing to the clayey and fruitful Ground it washes [L. fluvii quorum aqua mollis seu pinguis est].
1755 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 361/2 Keep this bason constantly filled with soft water.
1805 W. Saunders Treat. Mineral Waters (ed. 2) 3 River Water..is in general much softer and more free from earthy salts.
1893 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Jan. 7/3 The tallest people in Great Britain are to be met with in soft-water districts.
1959 Which? Nov. 152/2 All the liquid and cream shampoos..would clean the hair effectively in hard or soft water.
1996 Sunday Times (Nexis) 4 Aug. A company has developed a unit that converts hard water into soft water, greatly reducing the build up of limescale in heating systems.
2006 J. M. Hornback Org. Chem. (Internat. Student ed.) xxiv. 1079 One application of such a cation exchange resin is to prepare soft water for cleaning purposes.
26. Business and Finance.See also soft commission n., soft dollars n. at Compounds 2a.
a. Originally of money: in the form of banknotes, bills, etc., as opposed to coins. Later also: designating unsecured paper credit as opposed to coins, banknotes, or other objects or documents viewed as having exchangeable value. Cf. soft currency n. 1.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > [adjective]
paper1710
soft1776
notal1924
1776 Battle of Brooklyn i. 17 There is not one of the horses, but what is worth more than a hundred and fifty soft dollars.
1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle xi. 190 The notes of Touchandgo and Company, soft cash, are now the exclusive currency of all this vicinity.
1893 Daily News 16 June 2/3 Mr. Cleveland..found himself compelled to give the hot-headed partisans of ‘soft’ money a sharp lesson.
1967 Prairie Schooner 41 395 Don't let that green stuff fool you, kid. Them office hours run and fetch You more soft cash without the sweat.
2005 P. Vickers Chiefs of Nations v. 238 To at least furnish the tribal leaders with some amount of soft cash. Meigs paid out an additional 3, 744.33.1/2 cents.
b. Of markets, commodities, shares, etc.: depressed in value, characterized by falling prices or excess supply; falling, or likely to fall, in value. Cf. firm adj. 7a.
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society > trade and finance > trading conditions > [adjective] > specific state of market
simplea1387
glutted1714
heavy1831
saturated1848
soft1849
hard1880
firm1887
market clearing1950
demand-led1981
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > feeling or state of market
sensitive1813
bearish1827
light1827
quiet1833
easy1836
soft1849
weak1856
steady1857
buoyant1868
sick1870
swimming1870
featureless1879
bullish1882
firm1887
gravelly1887
technical1889
pippy1892
manipulated1903
thin1931
volatile1931
trendless1939
nervous1955
toppy1961
over-bullish1970
toppish1983
1849 N. Amer. & U.S. Gaz. 5 May The foreign news has caused rather a soft market for Flour.
1860 N.Y. Observer & Chron. 7 June 183/4 We make no change in quotations, but remark that the tendency is toward softer rates.
1930 Morning Post 19 Aug. 3/4 Oils were generally soft, while Coppers were far from being buoyant.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. b1/2 At the end of last year, the fish industry in Newfoundland was reeling from the effects of the extremely soft U.S. market.
1981 Times 8 May 26/5 Disappointing trading news also left..Francis Sumner 1p softer at 9p.
2010 Independent 4 Sept. (Traveller section) 3/4 When the peak-season travel market is so soft (the trade's term, which translates as plenty of bargains for you and me), it is difficult for any company to make a sensible return.
c. Of a currency: not convertible into other currencies, or having a price that is expected to fall in terms of other currencies. Cf. soft currency n. 2.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > [adjective] > types of currency
manufactory1740
sound1841
soft1857
convertible1911
1857 W. Medill Final Rep. Comptroller in J. H. Wheeler: Let. from Secretary of Treasury (1858) 13 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (35th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 125) XIII This peso is called the peso sencillo, or in English, the soft dollar, to distinguish it from the peso fuerto, or hard dollar of the United States, Spain and Mexico, and is about eight-tenths in value of the latter.
1895 A. del Mar Hist. Monetary Syst. xix. 447 The ‘peso sencillo’, or soft dollar, contained 304½ grains of fine silver.
1948 Financial Times 1 Sept. 6/3 (headline) Swiss franc soft in Pakistan.
1980 Times 23 May 14/6 Some African countries can only make ends meet in Moscow by smuggling in soft roubles bought abroad.
2002 H. R. Machiraju Internat. Financial Markets & India (ed. 2) Pref. p. ix The centre would be insulated from domestic monetary policy and rupee would remain soft.
d. Of money: unearned, or relatively easily earned; donated; (in later use) spec. provided for research through charitable donation.
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1897 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 7 191 Professor Hadley, who is above all suspicion of sentiment or soft money.
1938 Irish Times 7 July 3/2 When giving instructions for the will, Mr. Kelly explained to his solicitor that it was his view that it was wrong to give ‘soft money’ to people who had not earned it, and that he had no intention of giving large amounts to relatives.
1971 P. Dickinson Sleep & his Brother v. 117 Hard money is what your hospital pays you... Soft money is pennies from heaven, some dirty big company deciding to earn a bit of tax relief by financing medical research.
1979 Bull. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. Mar. 8 Research and teaching units that..tend to live on ‘soft money’ from grants and contracts.
2005 Nation 24 Jan. 16/1 Dangers already swirl around those rattling a tin cup for ‘soft money’ from wealthy individuals and foundations.
e. U.S. Designating donations of money not subject to limitation and regulation under laws governing political-campaign financing. Cf. hard adj. 7b.
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1972 Washington Post 12 Apr. a8/3 It's the difference between soft money and hard money. On state campaigns you can use union treasury money. On federal campaigns, you can't.
1981 Human Events 3 Oct. 8/1 The two largest givers..each..donated $50,000 in so-called ‘soft’ contributions to Democratic coffers.
2000 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 9 Nov. 23 The attempt to distinguish between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ donations is already the subject of widespread scorn.
2013 I. McMenamin If Money talks, what does it Say? ii. 24 Soft money was supposed to support ‘party-building’ activists, not candidates' election campaigns.
27. Of goods and commodities: perishable, or relatively perishable.Earliest in soft goods n. (b) at Compounds 2a.
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society > trade and finance > merchandise > [adjective] > types of goods
homemade1565
consumable1692
in nature1719
inconsumable1785
soft1833
tenderable1868
orderable1872
self-serve1918
offshore1947
house-made1972
1833 Chambers' Edinb. Jrnl. 5 Jan. 385/3 I could occasionally hear a detached sentence on politics..the price of stocks—soft goods.
1931 K. G. Lindblom Use of Oxen as Pack & Riding Animals in Afr. 39 When grain, flour or other soft commodities are loaded on them [sc. simple saddles], it can only be done by using a thick underlay.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 5 Oct. 2/6 These points stand out with respect to the production of ‘soft’ consumer goods (clothing, food, drugs and the like).
1979 Daily Tel. 9 Oct. 21 While the metal markets continue their volatile course the ‘soft’ commodities, with the notable exception of sugar, have largely been untouched by the urge to get out of the dollar and currencies in general.
2012 Independent 23 Aug. 7/2 This paved the way for investors to pile into wheat, coffee and all manner of other ‘soft’ commodities.
28.
a. Of a drink: containing little or no alcohol. Earliest in soft drink n. at Compounds 2a.
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the world > food and drink > drink > types or qualities of beverage > [adjective] > not intoxicating
unintoxicating1773
soft1843
unebriate1853
non-alcoholic1857
uninebriatinga1861
unalcoholized1881
alcohol-free1913
pussyfoot1973
1843 Belfast News Let. 22 Dec. (advt.) J. G. has Opened entertainment rooms..where his friends and patrons will find good accommodation in Hot Mutton,..custards; soft drinks, &c.
1891 Testimony taken before Senate Comm. Cities pursuant to Resol. adopted January 20, 1890 (N. Y. State Legislature) II. 1280 Q. But people go there and sit and listen to the orchestrion? A. And drink soft stuff; that is all they get there. Q. They can not get anything else ? A. Not that I know of. Q. It is an orchestrion accompanied by a soda water fountain? A. I will accept that statement.
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 23 May 41/2 Excuse Harrie drinking soft stuff... He's on the water-waggon at present.
1964 I. Murdoch Italian Girl iii. 36 You haven't anything soft, ginger beer? All right, tomato juice.
2007 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 2 May 45 Teetotaller Freddie..no doubt raised a glass of something soft to toast Torquay's 16-6 win in the final.
b. Of a recreational drug: not regarded as extremely harmful; not likely to cause addiction.
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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [adjective] > diluted or adulterated
soft1959
cut1969
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > [adjective] > relating to powers or effects of drugs > mild
lithec1400
gentle1534
benign1638
mild1652
unirritant1822
bland1835
soft1959
1959 Oxf. Mail 14 Jan. 4/4 Of about 50 university users of soft drugs (mostly marihuana) about 20 were regular takers.
1976 J. Archer Not Penny More i. 11 He was a sly, smart little boy, unloved by the school authorities..for his control of the underground school market in soft drugs and liquor.
2014 Sunday Times (Nexis) 15 June 31 Today's bootleggers, in the drugs trade,..know how to stealthily upgrade their customers from soft stuff to hard.
29. Photography.
a. Designating a photographic negative or photographic paper that produces a low-resolution image; of or relating to such a negative or paper.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > plates and films > [adjective] > types of film
thirty-five millimetre1666
soft?1863
pushable1871
unexposed1892
lenticulated1925
prescreened1929
lenticular1934
pan1940
subminiature1977
?1863 Photogr. News Almanac (1864) 39 This process, generally, gives very soft negatives.
1890 Photogr. Times 10 Oct. 506/1 One negative will be soft and full of subdued detail, the other hard and lacking in full shadows.
1948 Pop. Photogr. June 143 The first print, exposed on soft paper for shadow detail and normally developed, is devoid of middle tones or high light detail.
2009 E. Allen & S. Triantaphillidou Man. Photogr. & Digital Imaging xxiv. 436/1 Very soft negatives have lower granularity than equivalent negatives of normal contrast.
b. Of a lens: producing images that are lacking in definition, either deliberately (cf. soft focus n.), or as a fault.The lack of definition typically arises from spherical aberration.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > camera > parts and accessories of camera > [adjective] > types of lens
flat field1841
wide-angle1865
slow1867
wide-angled1873
fast1877
rapid1878
fish-eye1882
sharp1883
symmetrical1890
telephotographic1891
telephotographic lens1891
narrow-angle1893
stigmatic1896
tele-negative1898
tele-positive1898
bloomed1945
soft1945
wide-field1950
1945 Pop. Photogr. June 48 (caption) A soft lens emphasizes morning mist as an old lady feeds the neighbor cats.
1978 SLR Camera Sept. 37/3 How good is the lens on your camera? Is it a bit soft?
2009 R. Evans Auditions 40 Steer clear of soft lens shots that blur away lines and wrinkles.
30.
a. Of a subject of study, etc.: regarded as relatively unscientific, unmathematical, or undemanding; not intellectually rigorous. Cf. soft option n. at Compounds 2a.
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1882 Albert Lea (Minnesota) Enterprise 14 Dec. ‘Your father tells me, Tom, that you are taking soft courses this year. What are they?’ ‘Well, you see, mother, it's a term borrowed from the turf. A soft course is a heavy course, and a heavy course is a hard course. See?’
1895 Parl. Deb. 4th Ser. 31 134 While they admitted what an American witness called ‘soft’ subjects into the curriculum of the University, the ‘soft’ subjects did not drive out the hard subjects.
1938 Dalhousie Rev. 18 224 One hears no longer of students leaving first-year mathematics to be dealt with as a necessary evil in the fourth year, and then casting about for ‘four other soft subjects’ to make up the requisite five ‘credits’.
2015 H. P. Chudacoff Changing Playbk. i. 25 He blamed college administrators and accrediting agencies for countenancing curricula that enabled academically weak athletes to retain eligibility by taking ‘soft’ courses and majors.
b. Of facts, information, or evidence: impressionistic, imprecise; (also) inconclusive, unable to withstand rigorous scrutiny. Now also Journalism: designating a story, feature, etc., which is primarily light-hearted and entertaining, rather than factual and informative. Cf. hard adj. 9a, 9c.
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the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adjective] > of facts, etc.: imprecise
soft1896
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > incorrect information > [adjective] > vague in memory
soft1896
1896 Theatre Dec. 310 There are players who do not hesitate to ‘feed with soft information all day long’ the persons whose business it may be to sit in judgment upon them on ‘the critical bench’.
1923 Sci. Amer. Feb. 77/2 Its functions and its limitations are to get the facts from the bottom to the top of the coal industry, both hard and soft.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 10 Apr. 20/5 All the President's Men is what reporters call a ‘soft’ story—breezily entertaining but short on hard facts.
1977 Newsweek (N.Y.) (Nexis) 30 May 28 Hard luck and soft evidence could well break the chain of culpability short of the top—and so put middle-level FBI men on trial..for crimes ordered or winked at by their superiors.
1999 N.Y. Times 19 Oct. e2/5 Even on the best of the commercial news programs, soft features keep gaining (no day seems to pass without attention to a medical wonder) and international news is slighted.
2009 Observer 19 July 21/5 Hearsay, rumour and unfounded suspicion are now known in the trade as ‘soft information’.
c. Designating a field or method of enquiry which is not amenable to precise mathematical treatment or to experimental verification or refutation; of or relating to enquiry of this kind. Frequently in soft science. Cf. hard adj. 9b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > systematic knowledge, science > [adjective] > kinds of
philosophical?a1513
mixed1605
pure1605
occulta1652
applied1832
statistical1885
marine scientific1937
soft1966
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > [adjective] > of a science: imprecise
arm-waving1962
soft1966
1966 Time 3 June 43 Project SIMILE Director Hall T. Sprague says these games are ‘to the soft sciences what a laboratory is to the hard sciences of physics, chemistry and biology’.
1972 Lancet 25 Nov. 1138/1 Clinical departments..must learn a new respect for the ‘soft’ data of sociology.
1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 June 766/2 The soft areas in evolutionary theory, which he sorts into a series of Hegelian opposites: adaptive versus nonadaptive traits, [etc.].
1982 Daily Tel. 23 Apr. 22 Most academic articles in all the sciences (hard and soft) are read by very few people.
2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 May iv. 15/2 Anxious to achieve the status of economics and the other ‘soft sciences’, the gatekeepers of sociology have insisted on a style of research and thinking that focuses on the testing of hypotheses.
31. Sport. Designating a goal, try, etc., that is easily scored, typically because of poor play by the defending team.
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1884 Dundee Courier & Argus 5 May The strangers..succeeded in getting two rather ‘soft’ goals, against a single point to Strathmore.
1927 Times 14 Feb. 5/1 The result..was seen later..when Cusson..allowed Young and Gibbs to engineer a positively ‘soft’ try on the blind side of the scrummage.
1993 Hockey News (Toronto) 5 Feb. 35/2 Hillebrandt..has allowed very few soft goals.
2016 Mercury (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 28 July 31 We gave them soft wickets at Lord's and they capitalised on that. If you give people soft wickets they'll take their opportunities.
32.
a. Electronics. Of a thermionic valve or discharge tube: (a) having had an inert gas introduced into it at the time of manufacture in order to modify or enhance its performance; (b) containing gas as a result of a leak or of outgassing by component parts. Now rare.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > thermionic valve > [adjective] > specific quality of valve
soft1897
1897 Abstr. Physical Papers Foreign Sources (Physical Soc.) 3 250 Very soft tubes give radiations feeble in intensity.
1899 W. Crookes in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1898 23 Röntgen suggests a convenient phraseology; he calls a low vacuum tube, which does not emit the highly penetrating rays, a ‘soft’ tube.
1919 R. D. Bangay Oscillation Valve 203 There are several indications which enable one to tell when a valve is going ‘soft’. The first is loss of power in the oscillatory circuit.
1956 G. A. Montgomerie Digital Calculating Machines ix. 178 The soft valves are usually beam-switching tubes of the multicathode type.
1958 W. F. Lovering Radio Communication viii. 173 A valve in which the vacuum is poor is said to be soft; the presence of a small number of molecules of gas adversely affects the performance.
2003 M. Jones Valve Amplifiers (ed. 3) iv. 256 Soft vacuum (or low pressure gas-filled) valves rely on the flow of gas ions.
b. Physics. Designating an X-ray or gamma ray of a relatively long wavelength and low penetrating power; (also) of or relating to such a ray. [Originally so called because soft X-rays are emitted by a soft tube (see sense 32a).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > X-rays > [adjective] > relatively long and weak
soft1901
1901 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 196 516 The radiation from the barium compound is enormously reduced by the interposition of so thin a screen as an ordinary piece of tinfoil; these ‘soft’ rays accordingly form much the greater part of the whole.
1912 Science 13 Sept. 332/1 Rays..of an exceedingly soft or absorbable character.
1960 Lebende Sprachen 5 163/2 The soft X-rays emitted from television screens cause great concern among radiologists.
2009 G. Verdrenne & J. L. Atteia Gamma-ray Bursts vi. 269 Many authors predicted that they [sc. relativistic cosmic fireballs] would be followed by afterglows radiating at frequencies gradually declining from soft γ-rays through X-rays to visible light and radio waves.
c. Of subatomic particles: having a relatively low energy.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > [adjective] > of relatively low energy
soft1940
1940 Nature 20 July 94/2 The beryllium oxide was tested inside a counter so designed that even very soft particles could be detected.
1950 D. H. Wilkinson Ionization Chambers vi. 160 The use of a proportional counter for counting extremely soft electrons which give very few ion pairs, has been proposed.
1989 M. C. Kelley Earth's Ionosphere viii. 358 For F-region physics we are most concerned with ‘soft’ particles, that is, electrons with energy less than about 500 eV.
2012 R. Bhat et al. Progress in Food Preserv. xvii. 361 The use of soft electrons, with an electron energy of 300 kV or lower, and capable of ensuring the surface decontamination of cereals, grains and pulses, has been proposed.
d. Physics. Designating a mode of vibration in a crystal lattice in which the frequency of vibration decreases to zero as the temperature of the crystal approaches that associated with a phase transition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > arrangement in crystal > [adjective] > relating to mode of vibration
soft1964
1964 Physical Rev. 136 a. 429/1 Cochran proposed a theory which links the cause of ferroelectricity in the perovskites to the existence of a temperature-dependent ‘soft’ lattice vibrational mode.
1973 G. R. Wilkinson in A. Anderson Raman Effect II. xi. 813 A number of ‘soft’ modes of vibration whose frequencies depend upon temperature have been found.
1994 S. S. Chang in R. J. Seyler Assignment of Glass Transition 126 These low temperature characteristics are generally attributed to low frequency vibrations from large molecules and ‘soft’ modes of vibration from defective or disordered structures.
2007 R. A. Evarestov Quantum Chem. Solids xi. 508 A possible reason for this discrepancy is the influence of soft vibrational modes.
33. Military.
a. Of a vehicle: unarmoured; = soft-skinned adj. (b) at Compounds 2a.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > [adjective] > defended > poorly defended
weak1650
soft1944
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > armour for vehicle, ship, etc. > [adjective] > not
soft-skinned1942
soft1944
1944 A. Jacob Traveller's War vii. 129 The tanks crunch forward like a battle fleet: our ‘soft’ vehicles in the middle of the phalanx, with the armoured cars of the Dragoon Guards moving on both flanks.
1968 Amarillo (Texas) Daily News 9 May 34/2 Much more important than the tanks are the ‘soft’ vehicles.
2005 L. Diamond Squandered Victory (2006) vii. 194 Unable to find any transportation other than the soft vehicles that civilians were dying in, we cancelled the trip.
b. Of a building or other structure: not constructed to withstand a nuclear attack. Contrasted with hard adj. 11.
ΚΠ
1958 R. D. Bowers in Air Univ. Q. Rev. 10 91 It would be useful to know how the cost of a hard base compares to that of a soft base if they have equal measures of merit (cost per surviving missile).
1989 P. Craig et al. in B. G. Levi et al. Future Land-based Strategic Missiles iv. v. 52 In the dash-mobile deployment, HMLs would be based in soft bunkers at some of the 950 Minuteman silo sites.
2001 K. D. Rose One Nation Underground v. 166 The enemy would have to expend ‘many times more megatonnage’ on such hard targets than on a soft base.
34.
a. Of a detergent, pesticide, etc.: readily biodegradable; (more generally) relatively short-lived or innocuous in the environment. Contrasted with hard adj. 23d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing agents > [adjective] > type of detergent
soft1956
non-biological1961
1956 New Scientist 27 Dec. 8/3 Find an alkyl aryl sulphonate that is biologically ‘soft’ and susceptible to bacteria.
1961 New Scientist 10 Aug. 323/1 A ‘soft’ detergent is one that can be more easily broken down by biological processes in sewage works than those containing ‘hard’ material.
1971 Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 10/6 The detergent industry switched over to ‘soft’, biodegradable detergents.
2008 G. B. Wilshire et al. Amer. West at Risk ii. 51 Chemical companies advertise that the newer organophosphate and ‘soft’ pesticides degrade more rapidly than organochlorines and do not bioaccumulate.
b. Of a technology: using renewable resources, such as wind or solar power and human or animal exertion, and hence causing relatively little harm to the natural environment; (of energy) employed in or derived from this technology. Also: of or relating to energy or technology of this kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > energy or power of doing work > [adjective] > using renewable means
soft1972
society > occupation and work > study of work > [adjective] > relating to technology or technography > branches of
biotechnic1927
soft1972
zygological1978
biotech1980
biotechnology1982
nanotech1987
nanotechnological1987
1972 N.Y. Times 9 June 14/2 The commune will be dedicated to research in ‘soft technology’—the kind that leaves the earth at least as rich as it finds it.
1977 A. Lovins Soft Energy Paths ii. 38 Energy paths dependent on soft technologies..will be called ‘soft’ energy paths.
1996 Atlantic Monthly July 10/2 The reason that we can't plan ahead and make significant progress on alternative energy sources is that..we insist that soft energy sources will be sufficient.
2010 Jrnl. Mod. Afr. Stud. 48 488 ‘Soft technologies’ on an organisational level..can build new stocks of social capital.
35. In landscape design: designating natural or grown physical features, such as vegetation, water, etc., as distinct from constructed elements; of or composed of such features. Cf. hard adj. 1m.Chiefly in soft landscape and soft landscaping; cf. softscape n., softscaping n.
ΚΠ
1957 Landscape Archit. 47 400/1 The patterning of groundcovers, the hard as opposed to the soft landscaping elements.
1967 Guardian 19 July 8/2 Twin courtyards.., the one soft landscape with trees and shrubs, the other ‘hard’ with brick paving.
1989 Los Angeles Times 25 Sept. iv. 2/6 The plan generally is what is called a soft design, emphasizing a diversity of plantings and a minimum of furnishings.
2015 T. Hall Robust City iv. 46 Large trees, supplemented by other soft landscaping, serve to create a favourable microclimate.
36. Designating pornography that is suggestive or erotic but not explicit. Cf. softcore adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [adjective] > pornographic > less obscene
soft1958
softcore1962
1958 K. Amis Lett. (2000) 545 Managed only..a single soft-porn paperback, of which I remember just one sentence: ‘She tingled with erogeneity.’
1988 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 23 Oct. (Tempo) 138 A few seconds in which the screen was filled with sundry bare breasts and other soft erotica.
1992 D. Cameron & E. Frazer in C. Itzin Pornography (1993) xix. 377 Pornography must be among the most open secrets our culture has. Its ‘softer’ forms are all-pervading in nearly all public environments.
2003 J. Moore Ex Files 91 I'm a glamour model—but I only do soft porn.
37. Law (esp. International Law). Designating a quasi-legal instrument which is not binding or legally enforceable. Cf. hard adj. 22d.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > [adjective] > not
disobligatorya1649
unbinding1652
soft1964
1964 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 58 964 Specificity..is essential to convert the ‘soft’ law of the Charter into the ‘hard’ law needed for effective implementation.
1988 J. H. H. Weiler in A. Cassese & J. H. H. Weiler Change & Stability in Internat. Law-making 63 The most clamorous phenomenon..is the emergence of so-called soft law, such as General Assembly resolutions..and..‘non-binding agreements’.
1998 Environment July–Aug. 19/3 The only concession..from other industrialized countries was a soft provision in Article 3.2.
2012 B. Van Vooren EU External Relations Law & European Neighbourhood Policy v. 193 Soft instruments such as the action plans..are not burdened by the procedural requirements of traditional international agreements.

Phrases

P1. In proverbs.
a. a soft answer turneth away wrath and variants.
ΚΠ
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Prov. xv. 1 A soft [L. mollis] answere brekith ire.
c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) i. l. 190 A softe worde swageth Ire.
1611 Bible (King James) Prov. xv. 1 A Soft answere turneth away wrath.
1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World 60 We would use to one another none but the Soft Answers, which Turn away Wrath.
1826 R. Southey Let. 19 July (1912) 414 A soft answer turneth away wrath. There is no shield against wrongs so effectual as an unresisting temper.
1979 J. Scott Clutch of Vipers vi. 89 ‘Yes, sir.’.. Soft answer, no wrath.
b. soft words butter no parsnips: see parsnip n. Phrases 1.
P2. soft in the head and variants: having or showing little wisdom or intelligence; foolish, silly; deranged, mentally disturbed; cf. earlier soft-headed adj.
ΚΠ
1814 Providence (Rhode Island) Patriot 19 Nov. Why are the publishers of the above like a Squash? Because they are soft about the head.
1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful II. viii. 179 A good sort of chap enough, but rather soft in the upper-works.
1834 Knickerbocker Sept. 228 One of them, ‘rather soft in the head’, was applied to for goods, by a plausible old fellow, who paid nobody.
1914 Manch. Guardian 3 Sept. 6/1 You can see the German soldiers running about as though they were soft in the head.
1918 S. Ford Torchy & Vee (1919) v. 84 ‘Oh, he's all right, I guess,’ says I. ‘A bit soft above the ears, maybe.’
1984 A. Thomas Intertidal Life (1986) ii. 226 Alice remembered an elderly grandaunt who's gone a bit soft in the head.
2010 G. Carr Badness of Ballydog 70 She hears voices in her head. Thinks animals tell her things. Soft in the head, she is.
P3. colloquial. to be (also go) soft on.
a. To be in love or infatuated with; to (begin to) regard with affection.
ΚΠ
1840 W. M. Thackeray Barber Cox in Comic Almanack 4 Orlando and my girl, who were mighty soft upon one another.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms II. ix. 157 I always thought she was rather soft on Jim.
1895 M. Mather Lancs. Idylls 332 Don't thee go soft on parsons, lass, said her father.
1925 T. Dreiser Amer. Trag. I. i. xii. 83 He's kinda soft on me, you know.
1977 J. Johnston Shadows on our Skin 179 Was Brendan soft on her?
2010 W. Bell Easy Money xiv. 156 You've gone soft on her, haven't you?
b. To refrain from being harsh with or critical of; to treat too leniently.
ΚΠ
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxvii. 335 The law being hard upon us, we're not exactly soft upon B.
1883 ‘M. Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxxiv. 373 If he was soft on the Arkansas mosquitoes, he was hard enough on the mosquitoes of Lake Providence to make up for it.
1911 G. B. Shaw Shewing-up Blanco Posnet in Doctor's Dilemma 405 Why did He make me go soft on the child if He was going hard on it Himself?
1982 United Press Internat. (Nexis) 22 Nov. Social workers..have been seen as being ‘soft on alcoholism’.
2001 P. R. Pillar Terrorism & U.S. Foreign Policy (2003) viii. 229 Sometimes the most promising way to reduce future terrorism is through the kind of measures..that in a less educated perspective might be seen as going soft on terrorism.
P4. to have a soft corner for and variants: = to have a soft spot for at soft spot n. Phrases. Now chiefly South Asian.
ΚΠ
1927 ‘A. A. Horn’ & E. Lewis Trader Horn xix. 203 It's in the make-up of the natural man that he keeps a soft corner for a bit of a battle.
1967 Link (Delhi) 15 Aug. in Asian Surv. (1969) Nov. 802 Even policemen seem to have a soft corner for Kanu, the misguided dreamer.
1988 Mod. Asian Stud. 22 560 He had clearly a soft corner for Phoonsen, a man more sinned against than sinning.
2006 Statesman (India) (Nexis) 15 Apr. People of north Kolkata have a soft corner for sweets.

Compounds

C1.
a. Parasynthetic.See also Compounds 2, soft-focused adj., soft-hearted adj., soft-shelled adj., and other headwords.
(a)
soft-bellied adj.
ΚΠ
1854 H. H. Wilson in tr. Rig-veda II. Introd. p. x He is soft-bellied and handsome-chinned.
2001 N. T. Atherton Aunt Dimity, Detective (2003) 222 My formerly soft-bellied husband was now as lean as a cougar.
soft-chaired adj.
ΚΠ
1918 W. Owen in Nation 26 Jan. 539/2 Comforted years will sit soft-chaired, In rooms of amber.
2001 B. Stahl Fugitives x. 133 I'm too old to fight a war, unless they give me one of those soft-chaired desk jobs far from the front.
soft-coated adj.
ΚΠ
?a1656 J. Poole Eng. Parnassus (1657) 214 Meadowes. Plains... Green-mantled, soft-coated, flower-spangled.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede III. v. xxxvii. 23 The luxurious nature of a round, soft-coated pet animal.
1923 R. A. Wardle & P. Buckle Princ. Insect Control i. v. 59 In the case of ravens and jackdaws,..soft-coated seeds and fruits were all destroyed [in the alimentary canal].
2011 Daily Tel. 18 Nov. 2/4 On Tuesday the soft-coated wheaten terrier will celebrate exactly 10 years in the role.
soft-conched adj.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Ode to Psyche in Lamia & Other Poems 117 Pardon that thy secrets should be sung Even into thine own soft-conched ear.
1902 H. Church West Wind p. xli List, Myra! to the little breeze that bloweth Round thy soft-conched ear.
2015 Times of India (Nexis) 9 Sept. A saucy nugget flew into her soft-conched ears.
soft-edged adj.
ΚΠ
1654 R. Lloyd Schoole-masters Auxiliaries 42 A little Compass, a keen soft-edged Knife, and strong smooth Paper.
1846 Med. Times 22 Aug. 409/3 A shapeless, ragged, soft-edged orifice.
2013 Church Times 8 Mar. 29/5 There is a serious exploration to be made of the positive value of causing offence, but this soft-edged programme did not make it.
soft-fleshed adj.
ΚΠ
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 62 I think it not amisse to decypher you the ill forme of a Goshawke: which is..to be thicke and grosse plumed, softe fleshed, short thighed.
1787 P. H. Maty tr. J. K. Riesbeck Trav. Germany III. lviii. 118 The inhabitants are..yellow skinned, soft fleshed, and full of wrinkles.
1854 C. Williams Alps, Switzerland, & North of Italy xvi. 234 The fruit [of the cherry], more especially of the soft-fleshed kinds, is dried by exposing it on boards to the sun.
2011 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 3 Sept. (Life & Style section) 3 We share a dish of intensely flavoured, soft-fleshed Italian olives.
soft-grained adj.
ΚΠ
1662 W. Faithorne Art of Graveing & Etching 25 Take a char-cole of willow or some such soft grain'd wood.
1770 J. Cook Voy. & Trav. Russ. Empire II. xxv. 377 We travelled..over ridges of rock, of a dark coloured, soft grained stone.
1966 Listener 3 Mar. 329/1 Souzay..is..now able to make his beautiful soft-grained voice cover a wide range of human experience.
2010 L. D. Wesley Geotechnical Engin. in Residual Soils vi. 132 The unusual behavior of soft-grained sands.
soft-haired adj.
ΚΠ
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. lf. 271 Parys was a passing fayr knyght and strong soft heerid [Fr. blond] and trewe swyft and swete of speche.
?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses vi. 90 His sight did presse The eyes of soft-haird [Greek ἐυπλοκάμοισιν] virgins.
a1846 in E. J. Hooper et al. Western Farmer & Gardener (1848) 458/2 Smooth, soft-haired hogs are most suitable for warm climates.
2013 L. Q. Zhen Chinese Landscape Painting i. 22/1 Use a large soft-haired brush to apply wallpaper paste to the back of the painting.
soft-horned adj.
ΚΠ
1830 Fraser's Mag. May 505 I'm continted to be called a soft-horned bull, which is, by interpretation, a jackass.
1911 W. E. Griffis & A. Walworth China's Story in Myth, Legend, & Ann. viii. 90 We find this soft-horned creature [sc. the kilin] often pictured on porcelain plates.
2011 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 27 Feb. 42 Lichens like soft-horned corals were so alive against the dormant browns of the trees.
soft-hued adj.
ΚΠ
1829 G. Lunt in S. Kettell Specimens Amer. Poetry III. 342 Foliage whose bright tints mock'd the soft-hued sunset glow.
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist iv. 199 Her thighs, fuller and softhued as ivory, were bared almost to the hips.
2014 L. Esola Amer. Boys iii. 26 The America of soft-hued kitchens with shiny appliances.
† soft-mettled adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1592 Arden of Feversham sig. D.2 Why this would steale soft metled cowardice.
soft-sandalled adj.
ΚΠ
1886 R. Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 2) 53 From rockridge to spur Fly the soft-sandalled feet.
2005 D. Haeger Ruby Ring xxxii. 293 Only the gentle pacing of the soft-sandaled friars ever broke the monotony of silence.
soft-sided adj.
ΚΠ
1843 Ohio Statesman 7 Mar. The..false report, was got up.., and the soft-sided Reporter was made the scape-goat to carry off their sins.
1901 T. H. Holdich Indian Borderland vi. 133 The comparatively gentle slopes of the soft-sided mountains afforded pleasant enough ways for men and mules.
2011 G. R. Jeffrey & A. L. Gansky Scroll ii. 23 Chambers retrieved a well-worn, soft-sided leather briefcase.
soft-skirted adj.
ΚΠ
1910 Boston Post 29 Apr. 6/1 (advt.) C. B. Corsets: long hip, soft skirted model.
1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers (N.Y. ed.) 173 Now that in England is silence, where before was a moving of soft-skirted women.
2015 Sunday Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 4 Jan. (Fashion section) 6 My search for the perfect short-sleeved, softly waisted, soft-skirted..cotton lace dress goes on.
soft-soled adj.
ΚΠ
1829 Edinb. Lit. Jrnl. 22 Aug. 184/1 Selkirk, with souters sewing soft-soled shoes.
1933 J. Buchan Prince of Captivity iii. ii. 287 The soft-soled shoes of the pursuit did not slip.
2009 M. DeMello Feet & Footwear 211 Soft-soled moccasins were worn among eastern American tribes whose environment was primarily forested.
soft-textured adj.
ΚΠ
1819 Morning Post 11 Dec. (advt.) Simon and Cox..have just received a fresh supply of these most beautiful warm and soft textured cloths.
1953 Anderson (Indiana) Herald 30 Oct. 13/1 (advt.) A resilient, soft-textured brush in either nylon or bristle.
2007 P. Lambert Cheese, Glorious Cheese 54 Manouri is a soft-textured, fresh-tasting Greek cheese made from sheep's milk.
soft-toned adj.
ΚΠ
?1679 C. Blount Anima Mundi To Rdr. sig. a3v I was never so well accomplish'd as to study the Jingling and Cadences of words,..the more soft or harsh toned Syllables how to place them right.
1820 J. Keats Lamia ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 43 ‘Lamia!’ he cried—and no soft-toned reply.
2001 Women's Rev. Bks. Mar. 19/2 Billie loved the soft-toned, laid-back sound of tenor saxophonist Lester Young.
soft-topped adj.
ΚΠ
1861 Jrnl. Hort., Cottage Gardener, & Country Gentleman 2 Apr. 16/2 If the fungus in the throat..is large, bathe it with vinegar and cold water by means of a large soft-topped feather.
1976 Milton Keynes Express 23 July 39/1 Heavy rain during the day provided a soft-topped, damp wicket.
2005 Guardian (Nexis) 29 Oct. 7 A spectacular light-blue and chrome, soft-topped American car with Miami number plates pulled up.
soft-voiced adj.
ΚΠ
1528 R. Copland tr. Secrete of Secretes of Arystotle sig. I.i A softe voyced man [L. qui habet vocem dulcem] is often angry and enuyous.
1762 J. Macpherson Fingal 186 But who, said the soft-voiced Carril, come like the bounding roes?
1894 ‘J. S. Winter’ Red Coats 63 The remembrance of a soft-eyed, soft-voiced little woman.
1992 S. Hill Mist in Mirror (1993) xiv. 159 The woman was whey-faced and soft-voiced, without the local accent.
soft-worded adj.
ΚΠ
1826 H. Cole tr. M. Luther Select Wks. III. 427 The Holy Spirit cannot sufficiently admonish us against..these soft-worded [L. blandis] doctrines of proud hypocrites.
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist iv. 180 It was only amid softworded phrases..that he dared to conceive of the soul or body of a woman moving with tender life.
2015 G. M. Selim Internat. Dimensions Democratization in Egypt vi. 102/1 The U.S. State Department released a soft-worded, brief statement.
(b) Of an animal, plant, or part; esp. in the names of particular animals and plants.
soft-backed adj. now rare
ΚΠ
1803 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 517 Soft-backed Labrus, Labrus Malapteronotus.
1837 W. Swainson On Nat. Hist. & Classif. Birds II. iii. iii. 16 The soft-backed shrikes, or Malaconoti.
1971 W. M. Rogoff in R. E. Pfadt Fund. Appl. Entomol. (ed. 2) xxi. 612 (caption) Softbacked ticks Transmit: relapsing fever.
soft-feathered adj.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. iii. ii. 362 Wormius his Eider or soft-feathered Duck.
1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii VI. Table LVIII Soft-feathered Cape Coralline.
1930 Nature Mag. Mar. 145/2 Owls were formerly considered to be closely related to the hawks, but modern systematists are incline to place them near that other group of soft-feathered night-flyers.
2000 Canberra Sunday Times 11 June 4/5 [The] very well-behaved Australorp cockerel was best soft-feathered large fowl and soft-feathered bird.
soft-leaved adj.
ΚΠ
1833 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 1 29 Hieracium molle—Soft-leaved Hawkweed.
1890 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 26 136 The soft-leaved cranesbill (Geranium molle).
1999 BBC Gardeners' World Apr. 121/2 [Salad] burnet..is a useful soft-leaved evergreen that can be added to salads and soups.
soft-rayed adj.
ΚΠ
1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. ii. 367 The second dorsal fin commences at a small distance beyond the first, and is shallow, soft-rayed, and continued to a great distance.
1952 G. F. Hervey & J. Hems Freshwater Trop. Aquarium Fishes 208 The loaches..may be distinguished..by the soft-rayed and short dorsal and anal fins.
2004 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 271 676/2 A small..piece of tissue was cut from the soft-rayed part of the dorsal fin.
soft-tailed adj. rare
ΚΠ
1801 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds Suppl. II. 224 Soft-tailed Flycatcher.
1986 A. Leokum Tell me Why 2 ii. 49 The tail of the armadillo is also completely covered by armor—except in the case of one kind, and naturally it's called the soft-tailed armadillo!
soft-winged adj.
ΚΠ
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 117 The singing-birds are the best for destroying soft-winged insects such as moths and butterflies.
1932 J. C. Powys Glastonbury Romance ix. 255 The image..nestled there, like a soft-winged bird.
2010 Madroño 57 46/2 Other visitors included soft-winged flower beetles.
b. Complementary, as soft-looking, soft-sounding, etc.
ΚΠ
1578 T. Proctor Gorgious Gallery sig. Oijv With a sweet soft sounding voyce, this answer doth she make.
1596 R. Linche Dom Diego in Diella sig. F5 Dry..thou loue-forsaken man, those glassy Conduits..On this soft-feeling weede.
1613 H. Austin tr. Ovid Scourge of Venus sig. C8v The watry Nymphs this pretty child did take, And on soft smelling flowers laid him downe.
1749 A. Hill Let. 29 Mar. in Wks. (1753) II. 371 A soft-looking, maiden-like, slim figure.
1860 C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears I. ii. 33 Honora thought her the prettiest child she had ever seen..such a soft-looking little creature.
1879 Med. Times & Gaz. 12 Apr. 413/1 The red is a remarkably soft-tasting, delicately flavoured wine.
1957 Times 25 Jan. 1/2 (advt.) Gay socks, sober socks,..soft-feeling socks. Socks for every occasion.
1991 R. A. Sutton Trad. Gamelan Music in Java ii. 32 Some pieces are performed with no singing or soft-sounding instruments.
2016 Vogue (Nexis) Sept. 702 He has never made clothes on pretty or soft-looking girls.
c. With nouns in attributive use, as soft-nose, soft-play, soft-point (see Compounds 2), soft-centre, soft-shoe, soft-top (see separate headwords).
C2.
a.
soft-balled adj. chiefly poetic having soft balls of the feet (in quots. with reference to a cat's paw).
ΚΠ
1916 ‘F. Danby’ Twilight xii. 256 He..was walking about the room on soft-balled feet like a captive panther.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 42 Kisses of the soft-balled paws.
1994 P. Callow Fires in October 8 There it sits—no, squats, soft-balled paws and sheathed claws tucked out of sight.
soft belly n. a vulnerable part of something, especially a group or organization; = soft underbelly at under-belly n. 2a.
ΚΠ
1942 Christian Sci. Monitor 9 Nov. 8/7 The long-prepared drive against Germany's southern flank, which Winston Churchill has..described as ‘the soft belly of the dragon’.
1971 Times 28 Aug. 2/4 The boycott would..‘strike at the soft belly of the British economy’ if carried out throughout the republic.
2009 C. Jojarth Crime, War, & Global Trafficking v. 139 Tools for attacking the financial ‘soft belly’ of criminal networks.
softboard n. a relatively soft form of fibreboard.In quot. 1856 perhaps not a fixed collocation.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > wood-based materials > [noun] > chipboard or fibreboard
softboard1856
fibreboard1897
chipboard1898
beaver-board1909
wallboard1925
Masonite1926
Presdwood1927
woodchip board1947
particle board1954
MDF1972
medium density fibreboard1972
1856 Ann. Sci. Discov. 352 He proposes to..attach to the under side of the stopper a rectangular strip of cork or soft board (whitened with paper or otherwise).
1862 Proc. Lit. & Philos. Soc. Liverpool 16 35 Pin out the specimen on a piece of soft-board and place it in the sun.
1966 C. Sweeney Scurrying Bush v. 68 The sagging soft-board ceiling.
2000 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 27 May 36 Cut a piece of softboard to suit the size of your frame, and cover this with your chosen fabric.
† soft-board v. Obsolete to board (a hide being used for leather) on the flesh side; see board v. 7d.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > work with skins [verb (transitive)] > other processes
curry14..
shave1467
dress1511
slaughter1603
raise1607
scutch1688
chamois1728
braya1835
break1842
fellmonger1843
fire-cure1848
crimp1849
board1860
pebble1862
soft-board1878
sam1883
stock1883
nourish1884
buff1885
pinwheel1885
sammy1885
wheel1885
unlime1888
1878 Rep. Secretary of War III. 67 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (45th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 1, Pt. 2) VI When dry it is trimmed and soft-boarded to make it pliable.
1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) xxvii. 417 The leather is taken down and soft-boarded and hung up to thoroughly dry.
1922 A. Rogers Pract. Tanning xi. 325 The hides should be seasoned with flaxseed liquor, rolled, and soft-boarded.
soft box n. [compare earlier Soff-Box (see quot. 1975), a brand name for such a device] Photography a piece of lighting equipment, typically consisting of a cloth-covered frame, used to diffuse the light from a flash, floodlight, etc.
ΚΠ
1975 Petersen's Photogr. Mag. July 6/1 They wanted to construct a soft light for an electronic flash unit... He worked until the early hours of the morning, and when he was through he was looking at a working prototype of the just-invented Strobasol Soff-Box.]
1979 Newsday (N.Y.) 28 Feb. (Nassau ed.) 73/6 (advt.) Studio Lite System 800 watts w/4 heads, 2 soft boxes, stands.
1990 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 19 July 30 (advt.) Various Adaptors, Brollies, Soft Boxes, Reflectors, stand etc.
2008 D. D. Busch Quick Snap Guide to Lighting (2009) v. 106/1 Although I still use umbrellas, today, I find that soft boxes have more flexibility.
soft-brained adj. foolish or sentimental.
ΚΠ
1649 J. Cook King Charls his Case 35 Is any man so soft-brained to think that the Duke or Pennington durst betray Rochel without his Command?
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Qqq 4/3 Soft-brained, or Soft-pated, qui est un peu foû.
1797 Porcupine's Gaz. 5 July 419/4 Mr. Freeman of Massachusetts is soft brained, but that he cannot help.
1894 T. D. English Select Poems 366 He is a soft-brained fool who arrogates Himself great credit for his stainless hands.
1943 Internat. Teamster July 6/2 We are more than a little soft-brained in our handling of known Nazis and Bundists.
2001 Sunday Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 29 Apr. 95 Women—being the sensitive, soft-brained creatures we are—couldn't make our own decisions.
soft burr n. a sandy limestone forming a stratum of the Purbeck beds; cf. burr n.5 3.
ΚΠ
1829 Trans. Geol. Soc. 2 41 Another mass of calcareous stone,..is divided into two by a slaty bed, the upper being called aish, and the lower the soft burr.
1900 Proc. Assoc. Munic. & County Engineers 26 38 The aish is followed by a bed about 18 inches in thickness known as ‘soft burr’.
1999 E. Newby Departures & Arrivals 169 The way to these merchantable beds was through ten levels of..the Lower Purbeck Beds—Shingle, Slat, Bacon Tier, Aish (used for holystoning the wooden decks of ships), Soft Burr, Dirt Bed (which yields fossilized conifers), Top and Skull Cap.
soft cancer n. rare any cancer with a soft (rather than scirrhous) texture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > [noun] > cancer > types of
soft cancer1804
soot-wart?1810
melanosis1826
mastoid cancer1846
skin cancer1847
cancroid1854
epithelioma1872
soot-cancer1878
scirrhus1881
chimney-sweep's cancer1888
peau d'orange1896
pigskin1898
medullary carcinoma1926
1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 51 The sarcoma which is..generally found in the testis, and is distinguished by the name of the soft cancer of that part.
1961 A. S. MacNalty Brit. Med. Dict. 247/2 Soft cancer, medullary carcinoma.
2003 R. Sackman Rethinking Cancer 213 Thermography can be used to detect any kind of ‘soft cancer’.
soft cataract n. a type of cataract in which the nucleus of the lens remains soft but is opaque.
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1775 P. Pott Chirurg. Observ. i. 14 Whether when the opake crystalline is quite dissolved, so as to form a soft cataract, it is not, at the same time, somewhat enlarged.
1803 W. Hey Pract. Observ. Surg. ii. 104 A soft cataract has in some respects the advantage over a hard one, as the former is less apt to adhere to the iris.
1950 D. B. Kirby Surg. Cataract x. 193/2 The presenile soft cataract up to the fourth decade may be handled by discission.
2011 Jrnl. Refractive & Cataract Surg. 37 8/1 Needling and discission continued to be a valid method for managing soft cataracts until the introduction of phacoemulsification.
soft chancre n. [after French chancre mou (1857 or earlier)] now rare the characteristic ulcerated lesion of the sexually transmitted disease chancroid, which typically is less indurated than the chancre of syphilis; (also) the disease chancroid.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > venereal disease > [noun] > other venereal diseases
Winchester goose1598
crystalline1674
chancroid1858
soft chancre1858
soft sore1860
genital herpes1877
genital wart1881
bubo1896
granulomatosis1911
trichomoniasis1915
granuloma inguinale1918
LGV1949
chlamydia1984
1858 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 27 Mar. 250/1 He described the characters of the soft chancre, which was not necessarily..associated with any bubo at all.
1887 H. Raphael tr. H. Zeissl Pathol. & Treatm. Syphilis ii. 116 In the female the soft chancre is most frequently met with upon the labia majora and minora.
1917 Act 7 & 8 Geo. V c. 21 §4 In this Act the expression ‘venereal disease’ means syphilis, gonorrhœa, or soft chancre.
2001 T. T. Provost & J. A. Flynn Cutaneous Med. lvi. 579 Chancroid (soft chancre) is a sexually transmitted disease.
soft cheese n. any of various types of cheese having a soft, yielding texture; cheese of this kind.Frequently applied to unpressed, fermented cheeses with a soft rind, and a buttery or runny internal consistency when mature, such as Brie or Camembert. Cf. soft-ripened adj. at soft adv. Compounds 2. [Compare Middle French, French fromage mou (second half of the 15th cent.). Compare earlier hard cheese n.]
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the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > cheese > [noun] > soft cheese
soft cheese1542
curdled cheese1615
curd cheese1728
Livarot1883
fromage frais1976
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xiii. sig. G.iiiv There is .iiii. sortes of chese:..grene chese, softe chese, harde chese, and spermyse... Soft chese not to new nor to olde is best.
1638 W. Rawley tr. F. Bacon Hist. Nat. & Exper. Life & Death 47 The Coats of Soft Cheeses..with Age, gather wrinkles.
1715 Philos. Enq. v. 160 Dispose the sweet Curd this Way, and you get a very tender soft Cheese; dispose it that way, and you get a hard or tough cheese.
1784 J. Twamley Dairying Exemplified 58 The way to make soft Cheese, or slip-coat Cheese.
1893 Biennial Rep. Minnesota State Agric Experim. Station 268 Some molds are important in making certain kinds of soft cheese, such as the Brie cheese.
1918 Druggists Circular Sept. 388/2 The grocer..deeply regretted the customer had to eat soft cheese when he yearned to eat hard cheese.
2012 M. Easton Brit. Etc. 28 Food technicians were briefed to construct a new English soft cheese with a white mould rind but without the runny, pungent characteristics of Camembert or Brie.
soft coal n. a kind of coal that is less hard than other kinds and easily split; spec. coal of a lower rank (rank n.1 10), such as brown coal and lignite; cf. hard coal n.
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1693 J. Houghton in Coll. for Improvem. Husbandry & Trade No. 42 (single sheet) A vast difference may be perceiv'd; that of soft Coal giving a taste of the Mineral.
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. 232 Sometimes you can judge pretty near the crop or surface whether it will be a hard or soft coal.
1855 J. Phillips Man. Geol. 190 ‘Soft’ coal, where the cleat fissures are numerous and broken by cross cleat.
1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham xvi. 304 The soft-coal fire in the grate.
1926 J. Roberts Mining Educator I. 677/1 American cities where the use of ‘soft’ or smoky coal is forbidden by law.
1979 Sci. Amer. Jan. 28/3 Hard coal (anthracite and the various grades of bituminous coal) and soft coal (brown coal and lignite).
2009 New Yorker 20 July 36/1 Owing to cost considerations low-grade soft coal—so-called ‘dirty coal’—is currently providing more than ninety-three per cent of the energy for the fires of Hell.
soft coke n. a black, sparse variety of coke produced by the carbonization of highly volatile coal at a high temperature, typically used in open fires and closed appliances like stoves; (also) a piece or lump of this variety of coke.
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1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia at Iron The furnaces burning soft cokes require narrower furnaces, than for hard cokes.
1841 Morning Star 13 Jan. 1/2 Mixed with the soft coke, it [sc. small coal] forms an excellent and economical fuel for steam-engines and boilers.
1929 F. L. Brayne Remaking Village India 221 The chūla has been designed to burn soft coke, as a substitute for dung-cakes.
2014 A. I. Francis I write, he Dictates 91 Eight of us would be huddled over a soft-coke fire on wooden stools and small iron chairs.
soft commission n. Finance (originally U.S.) commission paid for financial services in some form other than fixed cash fees (as goods, services, concealed payments, etc.), e.g. paying for research, analysis, advice, etc., from a brokerage firm by using the broker's services for trades; cf. soft dollars n.Recorded earliest in soft commission dollars.
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1971 Financial Analysts Jrnl. 27 14 Institutions..taking advantage of opportunities to purchase various services with ‘soft’ commission dollars by means of reciprocal practices.
1988 Herald (Melbourne) (Nexis) 28 Oct. 32 The third sort of soft commission is increasingly popular in America:..fund managers..put dealing through a certain broker in return for consulting services.
1991 Economist 13 July 101/3 Each deal brings a chunk of soft commission to the fund managers.
2007 M. Thatcher Internationalisation & Econ. Inst. iii. 76 Large investors found ways round fixed fees.., such as demanding ‘soft commissions’ (e.g. ‘free research’ or computer equipment) in return for large orders.
2010 J. Bolland Writing Securities Res. (ed. 2) 243 In soft commission arrangements, most jurisdictions allow the inclusion of goods and services that benefit the client in the investment process.
soft condensed matter n. Physics condensed or semi-fluid matter that is easily deformed by relatively small external forces and thermal fluctuations, typically having constituent particles that exhibit Brownian motion and are capable of forming complex internal structures without external influence; = soft matter n.
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1989 (title) Phase transitions in soft condensed matter.
1992 New Scientist 25 Jan. 38/1 The large particles might be polymers..or aggregates of molecules in a colloidal suspension. Physicists call this ‘soft condensed matter’ to distinguish it from ordered, crystalline materials.
2004 Science 30 Jan. 615/1 David Weitz studies the behavior of soft condensed matter through experiments aboard the international space station.
† soft conscienced adj. depreciative Obsolete not strict or constant with regard to matters of conscience; liable to be conciliatory or lenient.Quot. 1924 is apparently an isolated later use, probably with allusion to quot. a1616.
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a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) i. i. 35 Though soft conscienc'd men can be content to say it was for his Countrey. View more context for this quotation
1658 A. Cokayne Obstinate Lady iv. i, in Small Poems 361 I..will be rather A perjur'd Mahumetan..then a Soft-conscience'd ass, and let this villain have her.
1924 W. O'Brien E. Burke as Irishman i. 3 The discomfiture of his soft conscienced progenitor on ‘Stony Thursday’.
soft copy n. a digital version of a document or image, as represented on a display screen or stored as a computer file.
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society > communication > information > [noun] > in transient form
read-out1958
soft copy1962
1962 IRE Trans. Engin. Writing & Speech 5 86/1 The Video File system provides instantaneous soft copy dissemination to users at remote facilities.
1985 G. T. Richardson Illustrations vii. 191/1 In only a few seconds, the completed soft-copy version may be ready for viewing, editing, or hard-copy preparation.
2013 Garden City (Kansas) Telegram 4 Feb. a5/3 Hard or soft copies of the book are available for purchase by calling her directly.
soft dollars n. Finance (originally and chiefly U.S.) payment for brokerage services such as research, analysis, advice, etc., made in some form other than direct fees; cf. soft commission n.
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1970 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 1 Nov. 13 c/6 One fund manager..might have to pay in ‘hard’ dollars for research services now paid for in ‘soft’ dollars. His lower commission could easily be offset by a smaller profit on the trade.
1985 Wall St. Jrnl. 10 Jan. 1/6 The New York-based consultant was reimbursed in so-called soft dollars, commissions paid to an affiliated brokerage firm for services beyond the execution of securities transactions.
2004 Philadelphia Inquirer 13 June e6/5 Brokerage firms use soft dollars to process a fund firm's trades.
soft drink n. a drink containing little or no alcohol.
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1843 Belfast News Let. 22 Dec. (advt.) J. G. has Opened entertainment rooms..where his friends and patrons will find good accommodation in Hot Mutton,..custards; soft drinks, &c.
1894 Outing 24 236/2 Each regiment had a ‘canteen’ of its own, where the men could buy..soft drinks, beer, cigars, pipes, etc.
1919 P. B. Clayton Tales Talbot House 29 The House was always what the Canadians called a ‘soft drink’ establishment, but no one resented this, lapping up tea or cocoa or Bovril with thanksgiving.
1936 G. B. Shaw Simpleton Prol. iii. 27 A feast of fruit and bread and soft drinks is spread on the ground.
2013 Daily Tel. 30 May 9/5 We are consuming more soft drinks than ever, and a number of health issues have been identified.
soft error n. [probably after hard error n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4] Computing a temporary error that is not caused by a persistent hardware fault, typically being remedied by rebooting the system; contrasted with hard error n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4.It is thought that soft errors are often caused by energetic particles, as produced when cosmic rays enter the earth's atmosphere, disrupting the operation of computer systems.
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1970 Datamation 15 July 22 (advt.) It also finds soft errors missed by a conventional computer system.
1995 B. Gallmeister POSIX. 4 vi. 248 Soft errors are known to be caused by neutrino bombardment and gremlins, neither of which you can do much about.
2015 J.-L. Autran & D. Munteanu Soft Errors iii. 68 Standard testing revealed a high incidence of soft errors, which was quickly traced to alpha-particle emissions.
soft-fingered adj. having soft fingers, esp. as a result of not being required to undertake manual labour; (in early use figurative) gentle, pleasant; cf. soft-handed adj., soft-palmed adj.
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1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades vi. 96 The other Princes at their ships soft fingerd sleepe [Greek μαλακῷ..ὕπνῳ] did binde.
1676 R. Shotterel & T. D'Urfey Archerie Reviv'd 47 Soft-finger'd Peace and bounteous Plenty here Will bless and smile upon us all the year.
1806 Polyanthos Apr. 32 He [sc. the husbandman] is often slighted and avoided, while the soft-fingered, smerk-faced courtier receives unremitted attention.
1922 Poetry 19 255 Rain, rain soft-fingered, Lifting up the white snow.
2005 Observer (Nexis) 24 Apr. (Mag.) 50 DIY is a pretty manly activity. For a middle-class, soft-fingered desk jockey like myself that's one of its attractions.
soft fish n. (originally) a marine invertebrate; (in later use) fish with soft flesh. [Apparently after Middle French, French poisson mou (1539 or earlier as poisson mol) and its model post-classical Latin piscis mollis (from 12th cent. in British sources; also in continental sources).]
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1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. O Of harde fyshes take the smallest: and of softe fyshes [L. pisces molles], chose the greattest.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 332 Those in the sea which we call Soft-fishes [L. mollia, Fr. Poissons de Mer, qui sont molz], although they haue no bloud at all, as namely the Pour-cuttles or Polypes.
1759 tr. M. Adanson Voy. Senegal 208 Several soft fishes [Fr. poissons mols], as sea hares, cuttle fish, and polypus.
1943 Jrnl. House 50th Gen. Assembly State of Iowa 937 Anyone engaged in the spearing of carp or soft fish, must have in their possession a spearing license.
2014 D. Foskett et al. Pract. Cookery for Level 3 NVQ & VRQ Diploma (ed. 6) (Electronic ed.) x If using soft fish, e.g. whiting, add it 10 minutes after the other fish.
soft food n. (in pigeon-keeping) the partly digested food which pigeons regurgitate to feed to their young; = pigeon's milk n. 2.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > pigeon > food regurgitated by
soft meat1725
pigeon's milk1799
soft food1876
1876 R. Fulton Illustr. Bk. Pigeons iv. 39 This ‘soft food’..is pumped up by the old ones with a sort of vomiting action.
1969 C. R. Hill Pet Library's Pigeon Guide vi. 91 At first, the parents will feed the youngsters on soft food (pigeons' milk).
2002 Racing Pigeon Pict. Internat. Aug. 32/2 One can place a small two day old young bird in the box with them, but this latter must have a crop full of soft food.
soft fruit n. any fruit with relatively soft flesh; (British) spec. a small stoneless fruit, the edible fruit of any kind of low-growing perennial; cf. small fruit n. at small adj. and n.2 Compounds 4.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > plant that bears fruit > [noun] > top-fruit or bottom-fruit
soft fruit1695
small fruit1718
top-fruit1884
1695 Family-dict., or Houshold Compan. at Jelly of gooseberries You may Jelly Raspberries, Cherries, Currants, or any such like soft Fruit.
1724 J. Saunders Compl. Fisherman 146 The Chub..will bite at soft Fruit.
1868 All Year Round 18 July 132/2 Our doctor seems a great advocate for soft fruit, by which term, at this present, peaches, grapes, pears, apples are meant.
1916 M. Byron Jam Bk. i. 8 Do not let any soft fruit, such as strawberries or raspberries, be placed in a tin vessel.
1956 H. H. Crane Fruit i. 9 If the area is very small, it may be possible to grow only soft fruits.
2009 Guardian 23 Apr. (G2 section) 27/3 It's nearly impossible to mechanise the harvest of soft fruit—it's too easily damaged.
soft furnishing n. chiefly British (in plural or collective singular) items made of cloth, such as curtains, chair coverings, etc., used to decorate a room.The plural form, soft furnishings, is more usual.
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1885 Liverpool Mercury 28 Mar. (advt.) Wanted, by an energetic business Man (35), a Situation as Manager, Traveller, or Salesman in a good house in the carpet, oilcloth, or soft furnishing.
1915 Board of Trade Jrnl. 28 Jan. 224 United Kingdom manufacturers and exporters of furs, soft furnishings, and mercerised cotton goods.
1998 H. Goodwin et al. Tourism, Conservation & Sustainable Devel. iii. 33 Community businesses have been suggested to produce..furniture and soft furnishing.
2015 Penrith Press (Nexis) 24 Dec. 20 The units..have been recently revamped with a focus on tasteful soft furnishings.
soft goods n. (a) textiles, fabrics; articles made of these. (b) relatively perishable consumer goods (see sense 27).Compare slightly earlier software n. 1.
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society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > types of textile goods
merceryc1300
mercery ware1377
haberdasha1529
small ware1567
tailory1610
dry goods1657
woollen-drapery1688
soft goods1798
wallflower1804
linendrapery1849
hog round1910
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > perishable goods
softs1872
perishables1895
soft goods1908
1798 T. Wallace Ess. Manuf. Ireland ii. 187 There is no manufacture of soft goods, which more easily admits machinery..than that of cotton.
1833 Chambers' Edinb. Jrnl. 5 Jan. 385/3 I could occasionally hear a detached sentence on politics..the price of stocks—soft goods.
1908 Deb. Senate (Canada) 6 May 822/1 The Ottawa river route is a cold storage route. It is not a canal route, where soft goods will perish.
1961 Ann. Reg. 1960 502 The value of retail sales rose by 4 per cent, a higher demand for ‘soft’ goods more than offsetting the drop in purchases of durable household goods.
1976 S. Cloete Chetoko 8 There were the usual shelves of soft goods—rolled bale after bale of red and yellow and blue materials.
2003 Investor's Business Daily (Nexis) 3 July a1 Nondurables, or ‘soft’ goods, rose a better-than-expected 1.2%.
soft hail n. hail consisting of pellets of snow (as opposed to ice); = graupel n.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > hail > [noun] > soft hail
soft hail1840
graupel1889
1840 Gardeners' Gaz. 28 Mar. 201/2 Clear morning—showers of soft hail and snow.
1918 Meteorol. Gloss. 343 On colliding with any hard substance, soft-hail breaks up with a splash, and may thus be distinguished from true hail.
2007 U.S. News & World Rep. 29 Jan. 12/1 Out West, Malibu saw the descent of a strange sort of soft hail called graupel.
soft hammer n. a hammer with a head made of a softer material than usual.
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1842 Penny Mag. Apr. 172/2 If struck with a soft hammer, it will yield a low sound.
1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes i. 16 Hammers with heads made of lead, copper, rubber, or rawhide are known as soft hammers.
2001 Oxoniensia 65 318 The majority of these flakes had been struck with a soft hammer and exhibited platform abrasion.
soft-handed adj. having soft hands; (in early use figurative) gentle, pleasant; cf. soft-fingered adj., soft-palmed adj.
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1604 T. Dekker Magnificent Entertainm. sig. B When soft handed Peace, so sweetly thriues, That Bees in Souldiers Helmets build their Hiues.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. ii. 336 Soft-handed Hope whose soothing touch makes the possessor easy in himself.
1820 J. Keats Ode to Psyche in Lamia & Other Poems 118 Their lips touch'd not, but had not bade adieu, As if disjoined by soft-handed slumber.
1945 Princeton Alumni Weekly 9 Nov. 5/2 There has been some criticism of our ‘soft-handed’ policy in the occupation of Japan.
2009 D. O'Briain Tickling Eng. xix. 291 Tradesmen often have home-owners leaning over their shoulders while they work..because we've never seen that panel taken off the wall before. That's exciting to us soft-handed types.
softhorn n. slang (chiefly U.S., now rare) a foolish, naive, or inexperienced person.
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the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > [noun] > simpleton
innocentc1386
greenhead1576
gonyc1580
ninnyhammer1592
chicken1600
loach1605
simplician1605
hichcock1607
smelt1607
foppasty1611
dovea1616
goslinga1616
funge1621
simplicity1633
gewgaw1634
squab1640
simpletonian1652
ninny-whoop1653
softhead1654
foppotee1663
greenhorn1672
sumph1682
sawney1699
sillyton1708
gaby?1746
gobbin?1746
green goose1768
nin-a-kin1787
Jacob1811
green1824
sillikin1832
greeny1834
softhorn1836
sucker1838
softie1850
dope1851
soft1854
verigreen1854
peanut1864
daftie1872
josser1886
naïf1891
yapc1894
barm-stick1924
knobhead1931
sook1933
nig-nog1953
sawn1953
pronk1959
stiffy1965
1836 Tait's Mag. June 391/2 Ye may think that to say so is rather more like a saft-horn than ye believe I am.
1837 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker i. xxxi. 198 I allot..that the blue-noses are the most gullible folks on the face of the airth,—rigular soft horns, that's a fact.
1905 A. H. Rice Sandy iii. 37 ‘Lor'! but you're a softhorn,’ said Ricks, contemptuously.
1984 R. Wilkinson Amer. Tough 88 The eastern gent whose superior traits at home made him a ‘greenhorn’, or a ‘softhorn’, out West.
soft hyphen n. Computing a hyphen not inherent in a word's conventional spelling but which appears when the word is divided across two lines of text; (also) the character used to indicate where such a hyphen may appear, which is not visible unless occurring at the end of a line, when it manifests as a visible hyphen.
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1981 DataCast 2 25/2 You can..use the ‘soft hyphen entry toggle’ to enter ‘soft’ hyphens while typing new paragraphs.
1993 Slavonic & East European Rev. 71 731 Bad proof-reading has also countless ‘soft’ hyphens hanging loose at the ends of lines.
2005 S. M. Schafer Web Standards Programmer's Ref. vii. 84 You can hyphenate the word ‘triskaidekaphobia’ with soft hyphens, as follows: [etc.].
soft key n. any of various keys of a keyboard or keypad which serve multiple purposes, esp. one that the user can assign specific functions; (also) a virtual button or key displayed on a touch screen.
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1976 IEEE Spectrum 13 65/1 The 2645A data terminal offers teletypewriter compatibility, multipoint polling, speeds up to 9600 baud, user-defined soft keys.., and increased editing capability.
1984 InfoWorld 19 Nov. 66/2 Press the soft key to which you wish to assign the string.
2010 B. Morris et al. Introd. Bada ii. 32 Input events include input from the touch screen, including menus and soft keys.
2011 D. D. Busch & A. S. White David Busch's Sony α NEX-5/NEX-3 ii. 42 Although the other two soft keys are programmable by the user..this one is not. It performs various functions as the context changes.
soft lead n. [after hard lead n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4] lead that is relatively free of antimony and other metallic impurities, and hence is soft and malleable; cf. hard lead n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4.
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1597 in J. Stuart Misc. Spalding Club (1841) I. 146 The pictour and image of ane man, ingravit in soft leid.
1683 J. Pettus tr. L. Ercker iii. xviii. 260 in Fleta Minor i A Centner of Littarge is counted at 135 pounds; and also upon 145 pounds of hard Lead, one centner of soft Lead [Ger. Bley], although to some separating Works are taken 130 pound of Litarge in stead of a centner of Lead, and 140 pound, hard Lead, instead of soft lead [Ger. Bley].
1830 Reg. Pennsylvania 27 Feb. 129/2 A piece [of ore] having been smelted, yielded about seventy per cent. of soft lead.
1906 Brass World & Platers' Guide 2 416/2 For a long time it [sc. antimonial-lead] was sold below the price of soft lead.
2006 K. L. Lerner & B. W. Lerner World of Forensic Sci. I. 115/1 Soft lead, generally used in jacketed bullets, contains little or no antimony.
soft line n. and adj. [after hard line n. and adj.] (a) n. a flexible or conciliatory policy, belief, stance, etc. (b) adj. (with hyphen) adhering to or supporting a flexible or conciliatory policy, belief, stance, etc.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [noun] > policy
soft line1948
1948 B. Gitlow Whole of their Lives x. 323 The communists were not fooled by the New Deal's soft line towards the communists.
1966 Sunday Times 5 June 4 Canada, Norway, Denmark and Italy prefer a ‘soft’ line and want to leave the Council where it is to minimise the rupture with France.
1975 New Left Rev. Nov. 70 The ambassador..may have been part of the soft-line American faction.
1989 A. Dirlik & M. J. Meisner Marxism & Chinese Experience i. 21 Is [Orville] Schell then a ‘soft-line’ Communist?
2001 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 Dec. a10/4 Business groups accuse the left-leaning government of President Hugo Chávez of worsening the problem by taking a soft line toward Colombia's rebels.
soft-liner n. [after hardliner n.] a person who adheres to a flexible or conciliatory policy, belief, stance, etc.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [noun] > policy > person
soft-liner1963
1963 G. Clark Coming Explosion in Lat. Amer. xii. 384 It took..a startling revelation by President Kennedy..to jolt Chile and other ‘soft’ liners into unified action.
1980 N.Y. Times 17 Jan. a23 Soft-liners will say that the Huyser mission prevented a bloodbath, with the Iranian Army battling the mobs.
2003 Russ. Rev. 62 608 The Bolshevik leader most instrumental to the appeals process was not a ‘soft-liner’, but the head of the secret police.
soft-lining adj. adhering to or supporting a flexible or conciliatory policy, belief, stance, etc.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adjective]
stillc825
tamec888
nesheOE
mildeOE
softOE
lithea1000
daftc1000
methefulOE
sefteOE
meekc1175
benign1377
pleasablea1382
mytha1400
tendera1400
unfelona1400
mansuetea1425
meeta1425
gentlec1450
moy1487
placablea1522
facile1539
effeminate1594
silver1596
mildya1603
unmalicious1605
uncruel1611
maliceless1614
tender-hefteda1616
unpersecutive1664
baby-milda1845
rose water1855
turtlish1855
unvindictive1857
soft-boiled1859
tenderful1901
soft-lining1967
1967 Lawrence (Kansas) Daily Jrnl.-World 15 Aug. 4/6 Such hawks as House Minority Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan..are moving toward an end-the-war stance that makes them allies of soft-lining liberal Republican [sic].
1977 Time 28 Mar. 13/2 They accuse it [sc. the Communist Party] of betraying the revolution and joining the Establishment with its soft-lining tacit support of Premier Giulio Andreotti's minority government.
2002 W. Case Politics S.E. Asia i. 23 Soft-lining elites based in the state began to negotiate with those in opposition.
soft loan n. originally U.S. a loan, esp. one to a developing country, made on terms especially favourable to the borrower.
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society > trade and finance > financial dealings > moneylending > [noun] > loan > national or international
loan1765
soft loan1954
line of credit1958
Euroloan1961
1954 Washington Post 19 June 11/2 We don't want you to make soft loans.
1979 Financial Times 11 Sept. 9/1 ‘Hidden subsidies’ to the paper industry provided by most European governments—in the form of tax incentives, soft loans and regional employment schemes—will continue.
2005 Pretoria News 4 Feb. 13/5 The bank would not say if the funds would be a loan to the Cape Town local government or whether some of it would be a grant or a soft loan.
soft-mannered adj. gentle and not given to extremes of emotion; mild-mannered.
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1756 Evening Advertiser 24 Aug. The soft-mannered tip-toe gentleman.
1847 B. Disraeli Tancred III. v. ii. 20 Amiable and brave, trustworthy and soft-mannered.
1997 J. Updike Toward End of Time 262 My two soft-mannered half-African grandchildren endured with ironic smiles the clumsy bumptiousness of their little white cousins.
soft matter n. Physics condensed or semi-fluid matter that is easily deformed by relatively small external forces and thermal fluctuations, typically having constituent particles that exhibit Brownian motion and are capable of forming complex internal structures without external influence; also called soft condensed matter.A wide variety of different kinds of substance are classed as soft matter, including colloidal suspensions, surfactants, and polymers. Some common, everyday examples (of which there are many) are ice cream, paint, and milk.
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1992 P. G. de Gennes in Science 24 Apr. 495/1 What do we mean by soft matter? Americans prefer the term ‘complex fluids’.
2005 O. G. Mouritsen Life—as Matter of Fat Prol. 2 Due to the fact that lipids form membranes by self-assembly processes that do not involve strong chemical forces, membranes are pieces of soft matter.
2015 O. D. Lavrentovich in E. M. Terentjev & D. A. Weitz Oxf. Handbk. Soft Condensed Matter iii. 137 Liquid crystals continue to surprise researchers and bring new challenges in our understanding of soft matter.
† soft meat n. Obsolete (a) (in pigeon-keeping) = soft food n.; (b) attributive (in aviculture) = soft-billed adj.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > pigeon > food regurgitated by
soft meat1725
pigeon's milk1799
soft food1876
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Pigeon They cannot be provided with soft Meat in their Crop when the young hatch.
1822 ‘B. Moubray’ Pract. Treat. Poultry (ed. 4) xii. 185 Soft meat is a sort of milky fluid or pap secreted in the craw of pigeons, by the wise providence of nature.
1854 L. A. Meall Moubray's Treat. Poultry viii. 454 The squab thrusts its bill into the side of the mouth of one of the old birds, which forthwith pumps up the contents of its stomach (called ‘soft meat’, technically) into its own mouth.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 28 May 3/1 All ‘soft meat birds’ are observant. I mean by soft meat—which is a birdcatchers' term—the feeders on grubs and worms and flies, rather than on seeds.
soft-minded adj. having a weak intellect or will; (also) lenient or compassionate, esp. excessively so.
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a1569 M. Coverdale Fruitful Lessons (1593) sig. M3v Quyet, milde, soft minded, tractable and meeke.
1677 R. Scamler Serm. preached at Great Yarmouth Ep. Ded. sig. A3v A more Popular Argument to use for the seduction of soft-minded and weakly-principled Protestants.
1812 J. Jopp Hist. Refl. Constit. & Representative Syst. Eng. 85 He was..so soft-minded and easily led, that..he wasted the permanent revenues of the Crown by yielding to the interested solicitations of many of the barons.
1919 E. O'Neill Moon of Caribbees 189 It's soft-minded she is,..an' stupid.
2008 Economist 12 July 60/2 He is too naive and soft minded to hold the most powerful job in the world.
soft-mindedness n. the quality or state of being soft-minded.
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1883 Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 282 1069 It almost brought the virginal blush to his..face to think that the right hon. Gentleman had such confidence in the soft-heartedness and soft-mindedness of the Irish Members.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby vi. 120 The transactions in Montana copper..found him physically robust but on the verge of softmindedness.
2001 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 23 July 6 God save us from such hypocritical soft-mindedness that purports to take the moral high ground without seeking after truth.
† soft-mouth n. Obsolete rare a flatterer, a plausible talker.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > [noun] > flatterer
fickler?c1225
losenger1303
glothererc1325
flatterera1340
blander1340
flatter1340
glozera1420
fleecherc1425
fager1435
soother1553
smooth-boots1599
sleekstonea1610
blandisher1611
cogger1611
over-prizer1611
smoother1611
colloguer1631
dauber1642
pargetera1656
flattercap1681
whillywhaa1682
sweetener1728
proneur1809
carney1818
soft-soaper1839
soft-solderer1851
smooth-sayer1872
incenser1873
soft-mouth1881
blarneyer1882
flannel-mouth1882
oiler1883
jollier1896
smoodger1898
plámáser1919
sweet-talker1946
smarmy1957
1881 R. D. Blackmore Christowell xxxi, in Good Words 22 521/2 Mrs. Tubbs liked them, because they were gentlemen; not such soft-mouths as you see now.
soft mutation n. Linguistics (in the grammar of the Brittonic Celtic languages) the most common type of the three forms of initial consonant mutation (mutation n. 5b), encompassing a number of different consonant changes that originally arose phonetically and were later formalized by syntactic context. In contemporary Welsh there are nine changes, from /b/ to /v/, /k/ to /g/, /d/ to /ð/, /ɬ/ to /l/, /m/ to /v/, /p/ to /b/, /r̥/ to /r/, /t/ to /d/, and the elision of /g/.In the Goidelic languages the corresponding alteration is usually referred to as lenition (lenition n. 2).
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1820 Cambro-Briton July 405 The soft mutation of the G..consists in the suppression of the letter, whereby the sound of the one next in success predominates in its stead.
1913 J. M. Jones Welsh Gram. 164 The mutable consonants..normally underwent the soft mutation between a vowel and a sonant.
1998 Proc. Harvard Celtic Colloquium 18 259 Although linguists and scholars have generally been able to agree on a list of words and particles that trigger soft mutation..in Middle Cornish, there remain a few cases of doubtful status.
2016 Llanelli Star (Nexis) 6 Jan. The spelling of the sign is correct, as in the Welsh language there is a soft mutation after the preposition ‘i’, which changes the spelling [from Llanelli] to Lanelli.
soft-natured adj. (of a person) having a kind, gentle, obliging disposition or manner; good-natured.
ΚΠ
1564 Abp. M. Parker Let. 3 June in Corr. (1853) (modernized text) 214 A good, soft-natured gentleman.
1779 Coxheath-Camp I. xviii. 199 He had children enough to teach him to be soft-natured to his subjects.
1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xvi. 144 The men,..who are so full of feeling, so soft-natured, so kind.
2012 D. Brown Band-aid for Broken Leg xix. 282 The guy's over two metres tall..and of the most jovial, soft-natured disposition.
soft nose adj. and n. (a) adj. designating a bullet whose jacket does not fully cover its tip, exposing the soft lead inside so that the bullet will expand on impact; (b) n. a bullet of this type; (also as a mass noun) bullets of this type.
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1896 Field & Stream 18 Apr. 317/2 By using a soft nose bullet and 50grs. each of Hazard's No. 4 and No. 2 ducking powder one can make a cartridge that more than equals in power the 120 grs. Sharps factory-made cartridge.
1954 J. Corbett Temple Tiger 193 My first bullet, a .275 soft-nose with split nickel case fired on 7 April, was bushed and firmly fixed in the ball-and-socket joint of the tigress's right shoulder.
1959 Progress (Clearfield, Pa.) 9 Nov. 8/4 (advt.) Ammunition for both—In military or soft nose.
2011 S. Calabi in M. B. Mandel Hemmingway & Afr. ii. 101 Hemmingway knew that a soft-nose bullet would probably deform and stop before doing much damage to such a massive animal.
soft-nosed adj. designating a bullet whose jacket does not fully cover its tip, exposing the soft lead inside so that the bullet will expand on impact; = soft-point adj.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [adjective] > types of bullet or shot
chained1613
steel-piercing1624
chawed1644
studded1865
soft-nosed1893
hollow-fronted1899
mushroomed1901
hollow-pointed1902
spitzer1905
hollow-nosed1909
1893 Colonies & India 3 Aug. 20/1 The disadvantages of the Lee-Metford rifle could be overcome by serving out soft-nosed bullets.
1979 J. Blackburn Sins of Father xviii. 155 Dumdums; soft-nosed bullets... Banned by the Geneva Convention.
2006 S. M. Stirling Sky People xi. 242 What one of those heavy, high-velocity, soft-nosed big-game bullets did wasn't pretty.
soft option n. a choice which entails no difficult or strenuous actions or decisions; an easy option; esp. one taken to avoid a more difficult alternative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > [noun] > an act of choosing > a choice which is easy to make
soft option1886
1886 New Englander & Harvard Rev. Apr. 363 The danger of pursuing a variety of heterogeneous studies without persistent method is by no means confined to the seekers after ‘soft options’.
1923 Granta 2 Mar. 315/1 It follows that our Tripos must be difficult; that we have little use for ‘duds’, for Tutors who misconceive it as being a soft option.
1957 M. K. Joseph I'll soldier no More (1958) xiii. 238 Odd bods from various HQs and soft-option types with vague jobs.
1977 Times 22 Apr. 18/8 The British electorate have a powerful instinct for the soft option and a quiet life.
2003 Jrnl. N.Z. Lit. 21 23 Who could blame the critic for taking the soft option and correcting the faulty grammar instead of engaging with the poems' substance?
soft-paced adj. slow-paced.
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1635 F. Quarles Emblemes i. xiii. 54 The soft-pac'd Snayle is not so slow as wee.
1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad iv. 6 The dawn..With soft-paced ray dispels the shades obscene.
1857 S. Winkworth Life Tauler in Tauler's Serm. 164 A soft-paced horse would be much easier for him to ride.
1994 J. Feather Vixen xv. 236 He walked toward her with soft-paced purpose.
soft palate n. [after post-classical Latin palatum molle (1734 or earlier)] the posterior part of the palate, consisting of an arched fold of fibrous and muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane, which divides the oral and nasal parts of the pharynx; cf. hard palate n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4.Also called velum and veil of the palate.
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the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > [noun] > palate > soft palate
soft palate1749
velum1753
1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. 170 The soft Palate is drawn down in swallowing.
1890 H. Sweet Primer Phonetics 8 The roof of the mouth consists of two parts, the ‘soft’ and the ‘hard’ palate.
2010 Wall St. Jrnl. 2 Feb. d6/6 Injecting a chemical into the soft palate to create scar tissue..reduces snoring.
soft pale adj. (and n.) now historical and rare designating a form of solder used by pewterers, containing tin, lead, and bismuth; (also as n.) solder of this kind.
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1843 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. 450 The first solder is called by the pewterers hard-pale, the last soft-pale.
1950 Country Life 28 July 291/2 In the early days of pewtermaking the only permitted solder was an alloy of two parts of tin to one of lead. This was known as hard pale. As the power of the Company waned some pewterers used soft pale.
soft-palmed adj. having soft palms, esp. as a result of not being required to undertake manual labour; (in early use figurative) gentle, pleasant; cf. soft-fingered adj., soft-handed adj.
ΚΠ
1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharonnida iii. v. 249 No smooth stroke Of soft palmd flattery could ere provoke Sleep in her watchful Dragons.
c1848 J. R. Lowell Uncoll. Poems (1950) 59 The soft palmed tradesman coming home at eve.
1978 Time 3 July 1/3 Hooray for higher food prices... The American farm worker and farmer have subsidized the American dinner table long enough... There will be the usual soft-palmed protesters.
2007 Sunday Express (Nexis) 25 Mar. 34 How would the sensitive, soft-palmed compilers of the OED..cope with drunken and unruly customers at 10 or 11 o'clock at night?
soft paste n. and adj. [after French pâte tendre (1844 or earlier); compare tender porcelain n. at tender adj. 1c] (a) n. artificial porcelain, typically made with white clay and ground glass and fired at a comparatively low temperature; (b) adj. made from this kind of porcelain; designating porcelain of this kind.
ΚΠ
1848 H. R. Forster Stowe Catal. 8 Chantilly Porcelain is a fine kind of ‘soft paste’.
1863 W. Chaffers Marks & Monograms Pottery & Porcelain 203 Menecy, marked in blue on a soft paste egg cup, of very early manufacture.
1911 A. Hayden Royal Copenhagen Porcelain i. 37 The early Copenhagen porcelain of the Fournier period is soft paste.
1957 C. W. Mankowitz & R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Eng. Pottery & Porcelain 78/2 Duck Egg Porcelain, a much sought after variety of Swansea soft-paste porcelain.
2013 Daily Tel. 27 Sept. 33/1 Bone china is made from soft-paste, porcelain from hard.
soft-pated adj. lacking intelligence or common sense; = soft-headed adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > giddiness, empty-headedness > [adjective]
idlec825
giddyc1000
volage?a1366
apec1370
foolisha1382
vain1390
idleful1483
volageous1487
glaikit1488
cock-brained1530
apish1532
empty1550
sillyc1555
frivolous?1563
tickle-headed1583
light-braineda1593
frothy1593
owlish1596
bird-witted1605
empty-headed1614
idle-headed1614
empty-pateda1628
marmosetical1630
grollish1637
feather-headed1647
nonsense1647
whirl-crowned1648
feather-brained1649
swimmering1650
soft-pated1651
weather-headeda1652
shuttlecock1660
drum-headed1664
chicken-brained1678
halokit1724
desipient1727
shatter-pated1727
scattered-brained1747
light-thoughted1777
scatter-brained1804
shandy-pated1806
hellicat1815
feather-pated1819
inane1819
weather-brained1826
bubble-headed1827
tomfoolish1838
bird-brained1892
tottle1894
fluffy1898
scatty1911
wandery1912
scattery1924
twitterpated1943
1651 S. Sheppard Epigrams vi. xxiii. 163 Menalaus,..a Soft pated Prince.
1680 C. Ness Compl. Church-hist. 179 Ahaziah..was a soft-pated prince and low spirited.
1855 H. M. Stephens Hagar the Martyr xxx. 317 The shamelessness with which married women..throw out their lures to catch soft-pated young men.
1925 Unitarian Reg. 26 Feb. 194/1 Of all the soft-pated yearning that the churches are guilty of, this [sc. church union] is most lacking in sense and possibilities.
2015 L. Bardugo Six of Crows xlv. 448 My lovely young wife is carrying a child, and be it boy or girl or creature with horns, that child will be my heir, not some soft-pated idiot.
soft pine n. any of various pines, spec. a white pine, that yields very soft, pale wood with little resin and a uniform texture; (also) the wood of such a tree.
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1820 Jrnls. House of Lords 53 220/1 What are the Purposes for which the Soft Pine is useful?
1933 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 61 (caption) The flared edge around the top of the bowl may be shaped up by using a soft pine block as a hammer.
2007 Wildlife & Plants (ed. 3) 13 809/1 The western white pine (Pinus monticola) is a soft pine.
soft plank n. Nautical slang (now historical) a relatively comfortable place to sleep or rest.See also to prick for a soft plank at prick v. 3b.
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1794 Morning Chron. 11 Aug. Hurried on board as they were, there was no remedy but every man to choose, according to seniority, the softest plank in the cabin to lie on.
1801 G. Hanger Life II. iv. 297 His chum..will be content to get a lodging..without any expence [sic.] at all, by preferring a soft plank in the tap-room.
1878 R. H. Edgar Comic Hist. Heraldry xvi. 101 We cannot fancy him..taking sweet spirits of nitre before he picked out a soft plank well bestrewn with rushes on which to repose.
1910 D. W. Bone Brassbounder v. 56 In watch below we were assured of our rest, and even when ‘on deck’..were at liberty to seek out a soft plank and lie back.
2001 A. Savours Voy. Discov. i. vi. 49/2 A jolly evening..took place..aboard Morning, finishing about midnight, with everyone finding a soft plank to sleep on.
soft-play adj. (and n.) designating children's play facilities or equipment constructed from soft materials and components, and intended to provide a safe environment for play and exercise (frequently in soft-play area); (also as n.) play which uses such equipment or facilities.
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1975 Arts & Activities Sept. 32/1 Joy Wulke is especially noted for her structural fiber designs, which she calls soft-play equipment.
1989 D. Porter Frommer's Dollarwise Guide Eng. & Sc. vi. 212 The park has..picnic areas, soft play centers, and adventure playgrounds.
1997 H. Penn Comparing Nurseries 66 This nursery..has a central hall, equipped with toys for soft play.
1999 Times Educ. Suppl. 7 May (Friday Mag. Suppl.) 2/2 They have soft-play and sand and a garden.
2003 R. Orr My Right to Play v. 27 Teacher sends her out to the soft play area... Perhaps I should..see if I can't get an extra dose of soft play.
soft-point adj. designating a bullet whose jacket does not fully cover its tip, exposing the soft lead inside so that the bullet will expand on impact.
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1895 Outing Sept. p. lvii (advt.) Grain metal patched soft point bullet.
1972 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Oct. 8/1 Around here a man's man proves his credentials by taking the flight north..with a belt full of soft-point .303 cartridges and a pocket full of Lac la Ronge money.
2006 R. Chandrasekaran Imperial Life in Emerald City (2007) vii. 162 Soft-point bullets, which lack a full metal jacket, are more likely to deform and mushroom as they enter flesh.
soft power power (of a nation, state, alliance, etc.) deriving from economic and cultural influence, rather than coercion or military strength; cf. hard power n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4.
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1985 S. Boonyapratuang Mil. Control in S.E. Asia iii. 72 Musjawarah (decision by discussion) and ‘soft power’ became the stances of his control.
1990 J. S. Nye in Bound to Lead vi. 188 Co-optive behavioral power—getting others to want what you want—and soft power resources—cultural attraction, ideology, and international institutions—are not new.
2003 Guardian 19 Nov. i. 25/2 Washington needs to see that, yes, it can win wars through solo, hard power—but only at the expense of the ‘soft power’ of influence and moral authority.
soft pull n. Printing (now chiefly historical) a pull on the bar of a hand press using very little force.
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society > communication > printing > specific methods or processes > [noun] > pull of hand-press > types of
long pull1683
soft pull1683
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 282 A long or a Soaking or Easie Pull;..this is also call'd a Soft Pull; because it comes Soft, and Soakingly and easily down.
1787 Smith's Printer's Gram. (new ed.) 328 That which causes a Soft Pull is putting in pieces of felt or pasteboard.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 128 Soft pull, an easy pull over of the bar-handle of a printing press.
1973 J. Moran Printing Presses (1978) i. 25 Packing could be put into the mortises—blocks of wood for a hard pull, felt or card for a soft pull.
soft-roader n. a car incorporating some design features and capabilities typical of an off-roader or sport utility vehicle, but intended primarily for use on roads, country tracks, etc.
ΚΠ
1997 Autocar 15 Oct. 89/2 Forester 2.0 GLS auto... New ‘soft-roader’ has nice touches, such as the powerpoint in the load area and the built-in washing up bowl. Could be the future of lifestyle 4x4s.
2002 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 27 Sept. c1 The Outlander is also more a soft-roader than an off-roader.
2011 S. Setford et al. Car Bk. 219 (caption) Not as rugged as a full-blown 4x4, this front-wheel-drive soft-roader was ideal for rural tracks too challenging for normal road cars.
soft rock n. [after hard rock n.2] a type of rock music which is less strident or aggressive and has a less heavy beat than hard rock.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > rock > types of
jazz-rock1915
rockabilly1956
rockaboogie1956
hard rock1959
folk-rock1963
soft rock1965
surf rock1965
acid rock1966
raga rock1966
progressive rock1968
Christian rock1969
cock rock1970
punk1970
punk rock1970
space rock1970
swamp rock1970
techno-rock1971
glitter rock1972
grunge1973
glam-rock1974
pub rock1974
alternative rock1975
dinosaur rock1975
prog rock1976
AOR1977
New Wave1977
pomp rock1978
prog1978
anarcho-punk1979
stadium rock1979
oi1981
alt-rock1982
noise1982
noise-rock1982
trash1983
mosh1985
emo-core1986
Goth1986
rawk1987
emo1988
grindcore1989
darkwave1990
queercore1991
lo-fi1993
dadrock1994
nu metal1995
1965 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 4 Jan. 20/4 He..stays with light jazz.., following the current trend from bongo to guitar from soft rock to folk and of course plenty of Sinatra.
1969 Harper's Mag. Sept. 24 Some soft-rock groups..have invaded the middle-of-the road market themselves.
1993 N.Y. Times 23 Mar. c 18/6 Country music itself has changed, becoming more ‘suburbanized’ and infused with soft rock.
2007 Independent 18 Dec. 33/1 His brand of soft rock was more attractive to American than to British audiences.
soft rocker n. (a) a piece of soft-rock music; (b) a performer of soft rock.
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1965 Billboard 9 Oct. 18/1 Back in her exciting, easy-go rhythm style, Miss Lee has a hit sound in this bluesy, soft rocker.
1971 Newsweek 30 Aug. 82/3 Clean-cut shingle-coifed soft-rocker Keith Partridge.
1986 Billboard 26 July 21 /4 Slowed from a soft-rocker to a dirge, the song would have befitted a lounge act better than a pop/rock headliner.
2012 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 22 May 25 The Bee Gees had an extraordinary career..as Beatles-influenced soft rockers in the Sixties.
soft-roed adj. having soft roe (see roe n.2 b); also figurative and in figurative contexts.
ΚΠ
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes 199/2 Lattarini, any soft rowed fish.
1612 G. Chapman Widdowes Teares v. sig. K3v A Souldier and afraid of a dead man? A soft-r'ode milk-sop?
1677 G. Miege New Dict. French & Eng. i. sig. *Ppp2/1 Poisson laité, ou mâle, the soft-roed fish, or male-fish.
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. Q6 Take soft-row'd Herrings, silt them down the Back, and bone them.
1817 ‘D. Hughson’ New Family Receipt-bk. 110/2 Choose, as breeders, four hard-roed or females, and only one soft-roed milcher or male.
1896 G. M. Fenn Sappers & Miners vii. 38 Nice pair o' soft-roed 'uns you two are! Why, you aren't got no more muscle than a pair o' jelly-fishes.
1931 P. MacDonald Rynox Murder Myst. 272 Do I understand..that you think, you poor freshwater, soft-roed young skate, that you are going to fob me off with a mere two hundred and fifty quid?
1994 Yale French Stud. 85 83 I again felt up to making marinated herring, preferably soft-roed.
soft rot n. (a) any of various bacterial and fungal infections that cause plant parts, esp. tubers, bulbs, and fruits, to become soft and watery (and often extremely malodorous); frequently attributive; (b) a type of fungal decay in timber, characterized by the presence of superficial, often pointed cavities , and typically caused by microfungi; frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [adjective] > of or having bacterial disease
soft rot1886
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > bacterial diseases
root gall1830
soft rot1886
heart rot1891
crown gall1894
bacteriosis1899
watermark disease1924
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with trees
heart rot1808
white rot1828
sap-rot1838
red rot1847
conk1851
soft rot1886
pine blister1889
silver-leaf1890
leaf shedding1891
pine rust1893
leaf cast1894
partridge-wood1894
larch blister1895
needle-cast1895
sooty mould1901
white pine blister rust1909
larch needle cast1921
coral-spot1923
ink disease1923
pocket rot1926
wood rot1926
Dutch elm disease1927
oak wilt1942
ash dieback1957
1886 Dearborn (Indiana) Independent 18 Mar. If the affected tuber is left in the soil in warm, wet weather, a soft rot will soon follow the appearance of the disease.
1901 Ann. Rep. Vermont Agric. Exper. Station No. 13. 299 A rapid soft rot of carrots caused by a bacillus (B. carotovorus).
1937 F. T. Heald Introd. Plant Pathol. iv. 47 Storage and transportation losses may be heavy..in vegetables such as asparagus,..lettuce, etc. by bacterial soft rots (Bacillus carotovorus),..in sweet potatoes by soft rot (Rhizopus nigricans).
1954 J. G. Savory in Ann. Appl. Biol. 41 337 The term soft rot is proposed for decay caused by cellulose-destroying microfungi to distinguish it from the brown and white rots caused by the wood-destroying Basidiomycetes.
1969 G. N. Agrios Plant Pathol. x. 355 Cruciferous plants and onions,..when infected by soft rot bacteria, almost always give off an offensive sulfurous odor.
2001 Sun 27 Jan. 49/1 Check your stored begonia tubers carefully and look out for any signs of soft rot.
soft rubber n. any of various soft and pliable varieties of rubber; spec. natural rubber or rubber that has been treated with only low quantities of sulphur during vulcanization.
ΚΠ
1832 J. B. Angell tr. F. Luedersdorff Solution & Reprod. India Rubber 46 One has only to stick the pieces together with some of the soft rubber [Ger. weicher Gummimasse].
1935 Sci. News-let. 23 Mar. 178/2 Soft rubber is usually vulcanized with five per cent. or less of sulphur whereas in hard rubber as much as 50 per cent. sulphur may be used.
2003 Bowling Digest June 20/3 Keep an eye on your finger inserts, whether they're soft rubber, silicone, or any other soft material.
soft sculpture n. (a piece of) sculpture in cloth, foam rubber, or other pliable materials.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > sculpture or carving > [noun] > in specific materials or methods
stone-cutting1611
fretting1614
masonry1686
high relief1703
phelloplastic1802
wood-carving1847
photosculpture1861
gem-sculpture1882
chip carving1883
stone-craft1903
soft sculpture1966
earthwork1968
1966 Times 12 Dec. 14/4 Some of the..soft sculptures are impressionistic and painterly in rather too tasteful a way.
1971 E. H. Johnson Claes Oldenburg 32/1 While it is true that Oldenburg did make some sculptures of soft materials for the performances.., it is also correct to say that he did not make soft sculpture per se until early 1963.
2009 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 9 Apr. 10 Her [sc. Yayoi Kusama's] paintings, collages, soft sculptures, installations and immersive environments are intensely sensual.
† soft second n. Bowls Obsolete the second player in a four, who is typically the weakest of the four players.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > player
bowler?1518
timber-turner1599
sidesman1843
ground-bowler1874
soft second1905
1905 Harmsworth Encycl. II. 884/1 Usually a side [in flat-green bowling] is composed of four players, each with a distinct function... The second has to do as he is told. A captain will play his weakest man here (hence the phrase, the ‘soft second’).
1912 J. A. Manson Compl. Bowler viii. 121 I played second (‘the soft second’) in the rink skipped by my friend.
soft-serve adj. and n. originally U.S. (a) adj. designating ice cream having a more yielding consistency than traditional varieties, typically through being mechanically whipped and aerated; of or relating to such ice cream; (b) n. ice cream of this kind.
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1951 Ice Cream Rev. Apr. 81 (advt.) Delicious, popular specialties..quickly build new volume, stimulate both soft-serve and factory-packed ice cream sales.
1955 Ice Cream Trade Jrnl. Aug. 44/1 Some states do not have regulations concerning the dispensing of soft-serve.
1984 Film Jrnl. Mar. 84/2 Freezer..units which make slush.., soft serve cones and sundaes.
1991 Time 25 Nov. 4/3 (advt.) We've..replaced regular milk shakes and soft serve with lowfat milk shakes and lowfat frozen yogurt.
2005 J. Scalzi Agent to Stars 122 There's this place nearby that has the best soft-serve ice cream in LA.
soft shoulder n. [ < soft adj. + shoulder n. (compare shoulder n. 6j)] North American an unmetalled strip of land at the side of a road, on which vehicles may stop in an emergency; cf. hard shoulder n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > parts of road > [noun] > shoulder
soft shoulder1917
shoulder1933
hard shoulder1952
1917 N.Y. Times 14 Jan. 4/2 It is necessary, in order to avoid a collision on a sixteen-foot roadway, to turn out on soft shoulders.
1978 J. Irving World according to Garp xii. 231 I run in the stuff of the soft shoulder, in the hot sand and gravel.
2012 Kamloops (Brit. Columbia) Daily News (Nexis) 25 Oct. 4 The truck's right-side wheels caught the highway's soft shoulder and the vehicle rolled into the eastbound ditch.
soft sign n. [compare Russian mjagkij znak (1892 or earlier); compare sense 24a(b)] (in Russian and some other Slavonic languages) a character, printed ь, used chiefly to represent the palatalization of a preceding consonant or the preiotation of a subsequent vowel; cf. jer n.The soft sign is transliterated in English with a prime symbol or a single apostrophe.
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1850 ‘Talvi’ Hist. View Lang. & Lit. Slavic Nations 18 The t' signifies the Yehr, or soft sign of the Russians in addition to the t.
1946 F. Lorimer Population Soviet Union 259 In the text proper, the soft sign and hard sign in transliterated Russian names are generally omitted.
2015 O. E. Kagan et al. Russian 394 The nominative forms of cardinal numerals are spelled with only one soft sign.
soft skills n. (a) Military skills used in tasks requiring little or no specialist training, such as cooking, driving, paperwork, etc.; (b) abilities which enable effective communication and social interaction with other people; interpersonal skills (now the usual sense).
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1957 Atlanta Constit. 25 Jan. 2/6 The..reinlistment rate for ‘soft’ skills such as cook and truck driver is twice as high as that for the ‘hard’ skills such as signal corps repeater man and electronics mechanic.
1976 L. S. Zwerling Second Best 241 [Attention] is focused on how to prepare students in the academic or ‘hard’-skills area but very little is paid to teaching the personal or ‘soft’ skills that are at least as important.
1981 Mil. Rev. Aug. 11/2 This will concern the replacement of ‘soft’ skills by ‘hard’ skills (for example, a former truck driver trained as a computer programmer).
1995 Computer Weekly 27 Apr. 6/6 Our people need to be able to handle ambiguity and have soft skills.
2013 D. Schawbel Promote Yourself ii. 51 If you really want..to be a manager, or to advance your career at all, you'll also need soft skills.
soft-skinned adj. (a) having a soft skin or outer coat; (b) Military (of a vehicle) unarmoured (cf. sense 33a).
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the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [adjective] > soft
soft-skinned1579
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > armour for vehicle, ship, etc. > [adjective] > not
soft-skinned1942
soft1944
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 771 Concerning the constitucion of his bodie, he was leane, white, and soft skinned.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 141 Those that..chase The soft-skind Martens, for their precious Case.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 149 It [sc. the otter] is somewhat of the shape of an overgrown weasel, being long, slender, and soft skinned.
1896 J. W. Kirkaldy & E. C. Pollard tr. J. E. V. Boas Text Bk. Zool. 225 Thin plates separated by large soft-skinned interspaces.
1942 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 10 June–1 Sept. 129/1 That is the protection of all this paraphernalia of supply and maintenance, all what may be called the ‘soft-skinned stuff’, from air attack.
2000 J. Harris Blackberry Wine (2001) lii. 264 Peaches and apricots and other soft-skinned fruit were already done for.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Mar. a11/2 Our vehicles are soft-skinned.
soft snap n. colloquial (originally U.S.) an easy, pleasant job or position; a profitable business or undertaking.
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1839 Mississippian 12 July It appears to be thought that a loan to the State would interfere with the soft snaps of the directory.
1841 Spirit of Times 9 Oct. 378 One of them..suddenly lamed herself, and another..‘found a softer snap,’ so they paid forfeit to The Heiress.
1887 F. Francis Saddle & Mocassin xii. 227 I've got a ‘soft snap’ on—can't miss it.
1925 P. G. Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves! ii. 36 Now, a great many fellows think that having a rich uncle is a pretty soft snap.
1955 Boys' Life Dec. 24 (heading) His job is far from the soft snap it seems.
2006 Herald Sun (Austral.) (Nexis) 23 Dec. 45 This $200,000 race is no soft snap.
soft sore n. [compare scientific Latin ulcus molle (1861 in a German context, or earlier)] now rare a non-syphilitic sore occurring in the genital region; spec. = chancroid n.; cf. soft chancre n.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > venereal disease > [noun] > other venereal diseases
Winchester goose1598
crystalline1674
chancroid1858
soft chancre1858
soft sore1860
genital herpes1877
genital wart1881
bubo1896
granulomatosis1911
trichomoniasis1915
granuloma inguinale1918
LGV1949
chlamydia1984
1860 Lancet 4 Feb. 114/1 I have seen condylomatous soft sores between the nates in females.
1884 A. Cooper Syphilis & Pseudo-syphilis iv. 33 There are two principal theories with regard to the relations existing between the hard and the soft sores.
1908 A. Shillitoe in D'A. Power & J. K. Murphy Syst. Syphilis I. xviii. 238 The soft sore, or ulcus molle, is, more frequently than not, a multiple lesion.
1974 R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. III. xiii. 13/2 Chancroid or soft sore..is a venereal infection with Haemophilus ducreyi..causing genital ulceration and enlarged, tender inguinal lymph nodes.
soft-spirited adj. (of a person) having a modest, gentle, or sentimental nature.
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1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 324/2 Softespyrited, modeste.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. James ii. f. xxxv Him, that estemed lesse the soft sprited [L. modestum] pore manne, than the proude stately riche manne.
1641 J. Milton Animadversions Pref. 4 Thus much..in favour of the softer spirited Christian.
1760 E. Goldney Friendly Epist. Deists 99 Soft spirited men..would have found some fine distinctions and nice evasions to have reconciled themselves to the public laws.
1892 ‘M. Twain’ in Idler Feb. 6 Soft-spirited as you are,..I am quite aware that when you have once made up your mind to do a thing.., argument and reason are..wasted upon you.
1958 Nation 22 Nov. 386/1 Brooks was..to lapse into a rosy, soft-spirited outlook upon life and literature.
2008 S. McCoy Lakeview Protector vii. 67 The quiet twin. Soft-spirited and easily wounded.
† soft-spleened adj. Obsolete lacking in courage or resolve; cf. spleen n. 5a.Cf. also lily-livered adj. at lily adj. b.
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1631 G. Chapman Warres Pompey & Caesar v. i. sig. I3 My soft-splen'd seruants ouerrule and curb me.
soft steel n. steel which contains only a low percentage of carbon, and is tough and easily worked but not readily tempered or hardened; = mild steel n. at mild adj., adv., and n.1 Compounds 2.
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1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Lapidary The Diamond, which is extremely hard, is cut and form'd on a Wheel of soft Steel.
1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 90 For soft-steel, less than 1 per cent. [of charcoal] being required.
1921 Pop. Mech. Sept. 442/1 Highly tempered steel is no stiffer than soft steel; it will just carry a greater load before it gives way.
2009 Business Hist. Rev. 83 824 The firm's new passenger car, whose weak chassis resulted from the use of soft steel, did not do well.
soft sugar n. sugar that is moist and friable; (also) any prepared sugar not in the loaf or lump form (the precise application varies); granulated or powdered sugar.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > unrefined or brown sugar
red sugar?a1425
black sugarc1430
panele1562
Canary sugar1568
soft sugar1581
muscovado1592
moist sugar1604
cassonade1657
brown sugar1704
bastard1766
Lisbon1767
bastard sugar1785
moist1809
sand1819
panela1830
piloncillo1844
pilonci1845
penuche1847
1581 W. Cary Hammer for Stone (new ed.) iv. sig. b.ij If you put into a cup of wine a peece of light, hollowe, and soft sugar, the wine presentlie entreth into all parts thereof, and causeth it to fall like a sandie substance.
1598 J. Mosan tr. C. Wirsung Praxis Med. Vniuersalis 2nd Index sig. kkk4/1 The fift kind is a browne and soft Sugar, it is brought from the Island S. Thomas.
1786 Morning Chron. 18 Feb. For sale,..the following goods, viz...Currants. Loaf Sugar. Soft Sugar.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor ix, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 231 A drap brandy to burn, and a wee pickle saft sugar.
1862 J. Russell Sugar Duties 12 The 13s. 10d. duty was a poor soft sugar.., the other at 12s. 8d. was a good strong sugar.
1939 A. Ransome Secret Water xxiv. 285 She bought..a pound of lump sugar and a pound of soft sugar.
2015 Good Housek. (Nexis) Sept. 175 In a large bowl..beat cooled butter with 150g (5oz) light brown soft sugar and 150g (5oz) granulated sugar.
soft tack n. [ < soft adj. + tack n.5] now historical (in the language of sailors) bread as distinct from ship's biscuit; cf. hardtack n. 1a.Cf. earlier soft tommy at Tommy n.1 4a.
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1812 London Rev. June 471/1 We got tea served out at half-a-guinea a pound, or else soft tack boiled in the coppers.
1884 Cent. Mag. Nov. 110/1 We were marched to barracks,..where a half loaf of ‘soft-tack’, as we had already begun to call wheat bread, was issued.
1928 F. P. Harlow Making of Sailor (1988) vii. 147 The cabin fare was the same as ours except that they had sugar for coffee and butter on their white bread (soft-tack) with a few delicacies thrown in.
2013 J. Clark Rathbones (2014) xviii. 275 Basins of steaming burgoo, stacks of toasted soft tack, platters of grilled smelt.
soft taco n. originally and chiefly U.S. a taco in which the filling is wrapped in a tortilla that has not been cooked until hard and crisp.
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1941 Paris (Texas) News 17 Aug. 4/2 (advt.) Enchilados and hard or soft tacos our specialty.
1970 Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times 4 Nov. 11/1 Heat tacos according to package directions for either crisp or soft tacos.
2011 J. D. Nash Lose Weight, Live Healthy iv. 110 Choose burritos, soft tacos, enchiladas, and tamales over cheese-stuffed chile rellenos and quesadillas.
soft-talk v. transitive to flatter, to cajole; = sweet-talk v. a.
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the mind > will > motivation > persuasion > persuade (a person) [verb (transitive)] > wheedle, coax, or cajole
fleechc1425
coyc1490
flatter?a1513
cuittlec1565
smooth1584
ingle1602
cajole1645
collogue1660
wheedle1661
coax1663
to wheedle with1664
to cajole with1665
manage1677
whilly1721
carney1811
whillywha1816
canoodle1864
patise1891
schmear1910
sweet-talk1936
soft-talk1946
snow-job1962
1946 Gastonia (N. Carolina) Daily Gaz. 24 July 6/6 Grandpa bullied or soft-talked Grandma into seeing things his way.
1968 ‘B. Mather’ Springers x. 100 He asked peevishly when the hell we would be moving—and where? I soft-talked him and said any minute.
2006 Financial Times 13 July 11/1 He has just soft-talked his dying mother into signing everything to him in her will.
soft target n. a person or thing that is relatively unprotected, vulnerable, or easy to attack; (Military) an unarmoured or lightly armoured target (cf. sense 33a).
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1873 Examiner 12 July 711/2 Mr Lecky presents rather a soft target... His style..is scarcely suitable for philosophical debate.
1941 Boston Daily Globe 5 Aug. 2/4 A hornet swarm of T-12s in guerrilla tactics can punish the soft targets of supply trucks which support the armored divisions.
1973 Economist 29 Dec. 17/1 A group of left-wing, libertarian socialists..moved into the Liberal's youth section, which they saw as a soft target ripe for takeover.
1991 Press Assoc. (Nexis) 15 Feb. The fuel-air bomb is a devastating weapon against ‘soft’ targets, like infantry and trucks, though of limited use against tanks and other armour.
2011 L. Pennington-Gray & A. Pizam in Y. Wang & A. Pizam Tourism Destination Marketing & Managem. xix. 318 Tourists can also be a soft target for terrorists.
soft-tempered adj. having a pleasant and equable disposition; not easily angered or annoyed; good-tempered.
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1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 68 Nor did that soft-temper'd Gentleman, show any great propriety of speech, nor pertinency of answer.
1786 Elfrida II. 108 The girl was too soft-tempered..to be capable of insulting her.
1878 J. Miller Songs Italy 45 When the stars in the soft-tempered breeze Glowed red.
2014 J. Deveraux Change of Heart 62 She knew herself to normally be a soft-tempered person.
soft tennis n. a variety of tennis played with rubber balls that are softer and lighter than standard tennis balls.Originally played in Japan and other Asian countries.
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1962 Korea Jrnl. Oct. 21/2 Japan captured the fourth successive championship by winning three tournaments out of four at the fourth Asian Soft Tennis Championship matches.
1987 Xinhua Gen. News Service (Nexis) 24 June With a history of over one hundred years, soft tennis has been a popular sport in Japan with more than one million fans playing.
2011 Sports Bk. (ed. 2) 183 Due to its popularity in Asia, soft tennis has been an official sport at the Asian Games since 1994.
soft tissue n. Anatomy body tissue other than bone and cartilage; a tissue of this kind; frequently attributive.
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the world > life > the body > bodily substance > [noun] > solid or soft substance
solid1705
soft tissue1892
1892 G. M. Gould Pocket Med. Dict. 272 Soft, not bony, cartilaginous, etc., as the soft tissues.
1964 L. C. Martin Clin. Endocrinol. (ed. 4) iii. 113 Soft-tissue radiographs of the limbs.
1977 Proc. Royal Soc. Med. 70 256/2 Advocates of early soft-tissue surgery..have reported successful results in a significant number of patients subjected to this method.
2015 New Scientist 6 June 8/3 Organs from dead donors are treated with detergents that strip off the soft tissue.
soft-tongued adj. softly spoken; (also) using flattering and persuasive speech.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > pleasant > soft or gentle voice > having
softc1230
soft-spoken1616
soft-tongued1660
softly-spoken1851
1660 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal Mores Hominum iii. 78 Soft-tongu'd [L. molli] Hæmus such a man.
1750 Hist. Charlotte Summers II. iii. v. 68 No soft-tongued, deluding Swain interposed between her and her Duty.
1876 Bulwer-Lytton's Pausanias (ed. 2) i. iii. 59 It goes hard with my pride..to make equals of this soft-tongued race.
1992 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 25 Jan. l15 One otherwise soft-tongued observer compared the decor to ‘the cafeteria of a Chinese hospital’.
soft toss n. Baseball a training exercise characterized by off-speed or underhand pitching; spec. a batting drill in which a player attempts to hit a series of balls thrown underhand and from relatively close range.
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1968 Idaho Free Press 22 Feb. 11/1 His teammates playing soft toss in front of the dugout would recognize that unmistakable artistically teased head of hair anywhere.
1984 Chicago Tribune 2 July ii. 8/5 Players use the ball for the soft-toss drill, in which they hit the ball into a fence.
2005 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 7 Apr. (Sports section) c8 He's pulling the pitches he couldn't reach, even during soft toss.
soft touch n. colloquial (originally slang) (a) an opponent who is easily defeated; a task that is easily handled; spec. an easily committed crime; (b) a person who can easily be persuaded or manipulated into doing something, esp. to give or loan money (cf. touch n. 26b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [noun] > that which is easy > person or thing easily overcome or dealt with
easy game1896
soft touch1924
set-up1926
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > duping, making a fool of > [noun] > gullible person, dupe
foola1382
woodcockc1430
geckc1530
cousinc1555
cokes1567
milch cow1582
gudgeon1584
coney1591
martin1591
gull1594
plover1599
rook1600
gull-finch1604
cheatee1615
goata1616
whirligig1624
chouse1649
coll1657
cully1664
bubble1668
lamb1668
Simple Simon?1673
mouth1680
dupe1681
cull1698
bub1699
game1699
muggins1705
colour1707
milk cow1727
flat1762
gulpin1802
slob1810
gaggee1819
sucker1838
hoaxee1840
softie1850
foozle1860
lemon1863
juggins1882
yob1886
patsy1889
yapc1894
fall guy1895
fruit1895
meemaw1895
easy mark1896
lobster1896
mark1896
wise guy1896
come-on1897
pushover1907
John1908
schnookle1908
Gretchen1913
jug1914
schnook1920
soft touch1924
prospect1931
steamer1932
punter1934
dill1941
Joe Soap1943
possum1945
Moreton Bay1953
easy touch1959
1924 Indianapolis Star 2 July 14/5 This comes under the head of what is called in pugilistic parlance ‘a soft touch’ for Gibbons. He will beat Bloomfield without much difficulty.
1925 Burlington (Iowa) Gaz. 27 Feb. 8/4 Europe has found United States a soft market for fighters, just as it has found Uncle Sam a soft touch for war loans.
1944 D. Runyon Runyon a la Carte 108 It is by no means a soft touch to be a war correspondent.
1966 C. Siragusa & R. Wiedrich Trail of Poppy vii. 104 You mail it to me in Brooklyn. I'll deliver it here. It's a soft touch and we'll both make a good buck.
2000 Independent (Nexis) 1 Feb. 9 They must have thought I would be a soft touch. But I'm still fit.
2001 Vanity Fair Apr. 310/3 He was also a soft touch for a sob story, possessed of nary a mean bone.
soft toy n. a children's toy, typically a toy animal, made of fabric stuffed with a soft filling.
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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > soft toy > [noun]
soft toy1864
plush toy1886
stuffie1938
1864 Belfast News-Let. 3 Aug. (advt.) Soft toys for the babies.
1917 E. A. Hickman Soft Toys & how to make Them 1 The object of this book is to bring instruction in the art of making stuffed or soft toys.
1964 M. Laski in S. Nowell-Smith Edwardian Eng. iv. 203 The named soft toy was now starting its long run of popularity..Golliwog..Teddy Bear..Caesar.
2002 Daily Tel. 10 Dec. 15/1 There is a sickeningly cute soft toy in the corner. ‘That is not my fluffy lamby.’
† soft vat n. Obsolete a dyeing vat containing liquid that is insufficiently alkaline; cf. sharp vat at sharp adj. 6d.
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1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 674 A soft vat..is that which contains too much copperas.
1859 H. Watts tr. L. Gmelin Hand-bk. Chem. XIII. 38 Too little lime yields a soft vat.., which does not dye so well.
soft wall n. Motor Racing (originally and chiefly U.S.) any of various types of shock-absorbing crash barrier installed as a safety feature at the boundary of a racetrack.
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1993 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 13 May (Oswego Accent section) 15/2 The latest safety improvement at Oswego is the use of plastic foam blocks against the outer wall... The use of these new soft walls has greatly reduced driver injuries and car damage over the past year.
2001 AutoWeek 17 Dec. 29/3 They debated soft-wall technology and energy-absorbing bumpers.
2011 R. Edelstein NASCAR Legends x. 260 The reaction to Earnhardt's crash remade the sport, leading the way for soft walls at the tracks.
soft wart n. now rare a small, soft, growth on the skin; spec. = skin tag n. at skin n. Compounds 5.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > wart
wartc725
porre?a1425
wrat1527
chit1552
verruca1565
fig1600
thyme wart1601
soft wart1610
rouncival1655
wartle1659
clavicle1661
thymus1684
warting1756
1610 G. Markham Maister-peece i. xxxiv. 270 A Wenne..is sometimes hard like a gristell, and spongious like a skinne full of soft warts.
1887 Jrnl. Cutaneous & Genito-Urinary Dis. 5 50 The lesions known by the laity as moles, mothers'-marks..and by the profession as acrochordon, ecphyma mollusciforme,..and among English-speaking physicians sometimes as soft warts.
1967 H. Montgomery Dermatopathol. II. xxxiv. 1036/2 Cutaneous tags or papillomas have been given many different names in the older literature, including acrochordon, fibroma molluscum, molluscum fibrosum, and soft warts.
soft-waved adj. having gentle undulations; cf. wave n. 4a.
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1812 S. Edwards New Bot. Garden I. 46 The leaves are spear-shaped, soft waved and entire.
1911 Harper's Bazar Nov. 505/2 The fashionable hair dressing, with the soft waved Pompadour and Psyche knot dressed high on the head.
2009 C. Sam Sky Train iii. 153 I was struck by her pearly white, soft-waved hair.
soft wheat n. †(a) a primitive type of wheat, probably emmer (obsolete rare); (b) wheat having soft or mealy endosperm and a high content of starch; a variety of such wheat; cf. hard wheat n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 3.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant
spelta1000
farc1420
ador?1440
flaxen wheat?1523
Peak-wheat?1523
red wheat?1523
white wheat?1523
duck-bill wheat1553
zea1562
alica1565
buck1577
amelcorn1578
horse-flower1578
tiphe1578
pollard1580
rivet1580
Saracen's corn1585
French wheat1593
Lammas-wheat1594
starch corn1597
St. Peter's corn1597
frumenty1600
secourgeon1600
polwheat1601
duck-wheat1611
kidneys of wheat1611
ograve wheat1616
soft wheat1640
cone-wheat1677
Lammas1677
Poland wheat1686
Saracen corn1687
pole rivet1707
Smyrna wheat1735
hard wheat1757
hen corn1765
velvet wheat1771
white straw1771
nonpareil1805
thick-set wheat1808
cone1826
farro1828
Polish wheat1832
velvet-ear wheat1837
sarrasin1840
mummy wheat1842
snowdrop1844
Red Fife1857
flint-wheat1859
dinkel1866
thick-set1875
spring1884
macaroni wheat1901
einkorn1904
marquis1906
durum1908
emmer1908
hedgehog wheat1909
speltoid1939
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 1125 This soft Wheate (or Amelkern as Dodonaeus saith the Germanes called it) groweth as great and high as wheate, the eare is sharpely bearded like Barley.
1771 Considerations Policy, Commerce & Circumstances Kingdom 134 They trade to advantage in the surplus of it, particularly Holland and Marseilles. The former in the soft wheat, as well as the rye and barley.
1973 Times 3 Dec. 14/2 Soft wheat is cheaper for us thanks to being in the Community.
2005 Delicious Nov. 109/1 UK semolina, made from soft wheat,..is nearer to wheat 0 flour, or grano tenero, which Italians use to make cakes.
soft woodland n. rare a woodland consisting of coniferous trees (cf. softwood n.); woodland of this nature.
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1847 Simmonds's Colonial Mag. 10 129 The second class consists of the resinous trees, such as pines and spruces, which cover the low grounds and bottoms of the valleys, forming what are called ‘soft woodlands’.
1987 Inventory Gardens & Landscapes Scotl. IV. 147 A small water garden is being planned to the south of the drive in front of the recent plantation of mixed hard and soft woodland.
b. In names of plants.
soft brome n. [after scientific Latin Bromus mollis (1762)] the annual European grass Bromus hordeaceus (formerly Bromus mollis), the leaves and glumes of which are covered with long soft hairs.
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1793 C. Milne Indigenous Bot. 117 The name of Soft Brome is very properly applied to this grass.
1817 W. Marshall Rev. Rep. to Board Agric. from Southern & Peninsula Dept. Eng. 489 The soft brome, smooth stalked meadow, smaller fescue, and yellow oat, are partial to dry soils.
2000 Britannia 31 137 This hay-meadow community is a dicotyledon-rich grassland with..lush growth up to 60 cm in height with grasses including soft brome.
soft grass n. [compare scientific Latin Holcus mollis (1766 or earlier)] any grass of the genus Holcus (see holcus n.), the members of which have leaves and leaf sheaths covered or partly covered with soft hairs; frequently with distinguishing word.meadow soft grass: see the first element.
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1759 B. Stillingfleet in tr. Misc. Tracts Nat. Hist. 211 Soft-grass... Holcus.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 264/2 The natives of Africa also make a beverage from the seed of the spiked or eared soft-grass (Holcus spicatus).
1908 Warwick (Queensland) Examiner & Times 9 Sept. 2/2 Three grasses which are favorably looked upon by dairymen are ‘Yorkshire fog’ or Meadow soft grass, Barren Fescue, and Barley Grass.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1244 On shallow soils, which are also drier, the soft-grass is replaced by the hair-grass. This forms close, wiry tufts difficult for the bluebell to pierce, and a bad bed for the germination of its seeds.
1998 R. Grounds Plantfinder's Guide Grasses iii. 20/2 Striped creeping soft grass is versatile in the garden, being at home in a shaded rock garden or used as an edging.
soft maple n. chiefly U.S. any of various maple trees with relatively soft wood; esp. red maple, Acer rubrum, and silver maple, A. saccharinum; (also) the wood of any of these trees.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > maples > [noun]
maple treeOE
maplec1385
plane tree1562
great maple1597
sycamore-tree1597
sycamore1598
sugar-tree1705
sugar maple1731
red maple1767
scarlet maple1768
rock maple1774
white maple1774
silk wood1775
moosewood1778
mountain maple1785
box elder1787
acer1793
sycamore maple1796
mock plane1797
Montpellier maple1797
water maple1803
soft maple1806
sugar-wood1809
swamp maple1810
low maple1813
maple bush1821
Neapolitan maple1833
snake-bark1838
moose-maple1839
sap-tree1843
Manitoba maple1887
Japanese maple1898
curly maple1909
Queensland maple1915
paperbark maple1927
Amur maple1934
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > maple > types of
peacock's tail1664
sugar maple1731
curled maple1778
bird's eye maple1793
soft maple1806
Queensland maple1915
tiger maple1961
1778 J. Carver Trav. N.-Amer. 496 The Maple. Of this tree there are two sorts, the hard and the soft.]
1806 P. Gass Jrnl. 6 Apr. (1807) 195 The timber is mostly of the fir kind, with some..soft maple.
1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail xv. 220 Against this rose the giant cedars, pines and hemlocks, the soft and vine maples [etc.].
1948 H. A. Jacobs We chose Country 25 We..saw the farm buildings, clustered behind a great row of soft maples.
2009 Biogeochemistry 92 147/1 The native deciduous swamp forest consists of mixed oak, hickory, ash, cotton-wood and soft maple.
soft rush n. [compare post-classical Latin iuncus laevis (1578 or earlier)] a relatively soft-stemmed rush, Juncus effusus (family Juncaceae), widely distributed in temperate areas of Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and used for a variety of purposes including the manufacture of tatami mats; cf. hard rush n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 3, sharp rush n. at sharp adj. and n.1 Compounds 2c(a).
ΚΠ
1649 W. Blith Eng. Improver xiv. 80 It was great Lands..full of your soft Rushes.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Juncus The species of rush, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are these: The sharp or pointed Rush... The smooth or soft Rush [etc.].
1886 A. C. Maclay Budget of Lett. from Japan 42 They [sc. tatamis] are manufactured of soft rushes, and are bordered with silken edges.
2008 U. McGovern Lost Crafts (2009) 178 Two types of rush can be used for making rushlights: the common rush (Juncus conglomeratus) and the soft rush (Juncus effusus).
c. In the names of animals, esp. invertebrates.
soft clam n. the softshell clam, Myia arenaria.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Myacidae
fleming1603
clam1672
clamp1672
basket-shell1713
Mya1777
soft clam1800
smurlin1806
sand-clam1809
long clam1811
old maid1815
softshell clam1818
maninose1843
gaper1853
long neck1857
geoduck1881
bluenose1883
sand-gaper1887
mano1899
1800 Monthly Mag. & Amer. Rev. Nov. 341/2 Soft-Clams.
1902 Daily Chron. 21 June 4/3 Soft clams are unknown in the average English kitchen.
2006 A. J. Lippson & R. L. Lippson Life in Chesapeake Bay (ed. 3) p. xvi They target blue crabs or soft clams.
soft coral n. any of numerous corals that lack a stony skeleton; (now usually) spec. those belonging to the order Alcyonacea; also as a mass noun. Cf. hard coral n. at hard adj. and n. Compounds 4.
ΚΠ
1869 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 3 323 A huge and beautiful species of Alcyonium (a soft coral called ‘dead-man's toes’) grew where it was left exposed at low water.
1983 Biol. Bull. 165 353 The soft corals (order Alcyonacea) are a large and diverse group of species among the Octocorallia.
2007 Dive Oct. 100/1 The reefs are all carpeted with gorgonians and soft corals.
soft crab n. a crab that has shed its shell and is awaiting the hardening of the new one; a softshell crab.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab) > crabs at particular stage
soft crab1737
softshell crab1806
megalopa1815
buster1855
megalops1855
shedder-crab1860
peeler1866
shedder1872
prawn-stage1896
fat crab1905
1737 J. Brickell Nat. Hist. N.-Carolina 229 Their Bait..is generally a soft Crab.
1805 R. Parkinson Tour Amer. 315 Soft crabs..are reckoned great dainties.
1921 W. C. McIntosh Resorces of Sea ii. 52 Many hermit-crabs, sea-acorns (Balani), and Galatheæ are returned to the sea alive. No injury to soft crabs was observed.
2009 Chesapeake Life Nov. 60/2 The last of the season's softcrabs, crusted in masa, were as sweet and as good as they should be.
soft scale n. any of various scale insects constituting the family Coccidae, many of which are pests; esp. (more fully brown soft scale) Coccus hesperidum, which attacks a wide variety of greenhouse plants and fruit trees.
ΚΠ
1880 J. H. Comstock in Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1879 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 243 I am indebted to Dr. R. S. Turner..for specimen of the common ‘soft scale’ of the orange (Lecanium hesperidum).
1969 Insect-pest Managem. & Control (National Res. Council (U.S.)) 151 Citricola scale was an important pest, but brown soft scale was not.
2006 Daily Tel. 17 Apr. 3/6 Soft scale attacks a wide range of plants but mainly woody plants grown as houseplants or in conservatories.
† soft-spine n. Obsolete rare any of several small, slender tilefishes of the genus Malacanthus (family Malacanthidae).
ΚΠ
1896 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. V. 376 Of these two unimportant families, the first is represented solely by the soft-spines (Malacanthus).
soft tick n. any of numerous ticks constituting the family Argasidae, characterized by the lack of a hard scutum, several of which are parasites of domestic mammals and poultry; contrasted with hard tick.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > member of (tick) > member of family Argadidae
soft tick1915
1915 Trans. Soc. Trop. Med. & Hygiene 8 206 If a soft tick is touched with a tiny drop of turpentine it will die.
1974 Nature 25 Jan. 226/1 This is the first proven example of transmission of a mammalian piroplasm by an Argasid (‘soft’) tick.
2000 A. J. Whitten et al. Ecol. Sumatra (new ed.) x. 321 Some, such as the soft tick Ornithodoros, attach themselves to bats only when they are hungry.
† soft tortoise n. [compare earlier soft-shelled adj. 1 and softshell turtle n. at softshell adj. and n. Compounds] Obsolete a softshell turtle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Chelonia (turtles and tortoises) > [noun] > suborder Cryptodira > member of family Trionychidae (soft-shell)
mud turtle1756
softshell turtle1804
soft tortoise1821
mud terrapin1829
softshell1830
softback1832
Trionyx1835
potamian1851
1821 W. S. MacLeay Horæ Entomologicæ ii. v. 254 The coriaceous skin of the Sepiæ is very analogous to that of the soft tortoises.
1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 256 The Trionycides. The Mud or Soft Tortoises.
1909 Nature 30 Sept. 402/1 Muriel Robertson describes the lifecycle of a new trypanosome from Ceylon, of which the principal host is the soft tortoise.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

softv.

Brit. /sɒft/, U.S. /sɔft/, /sɑft/
Forms: early Middle English softi, Middle English softe, Middle English– soft; also Scottish pre-1700 saft, pre-1700 softe.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion; partly modelled on a Latin lexical item. Etymon: soft adj.
Etymology: < soft adj., partly after classical Latin mollīre to soften, to make physically weak, enfeeble, to make calm or gentle, to make less hostile, appease, placate, to tame, to weaken in character or resolve, to make less intense or severe, to mitigate, to make easier to bear, to temper, in post-classical Latin also to be soft, to become calm (4th cent.: see mollient adj.).
†1. transitive. To mitigate, moderate; to reduce the intensity of (a passion, an emotion, etc.). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > calmness > compose or make calm [verb (transitive)]
softa1225
stilla1325
coolc1330
accoya1375
appeasec1374
attemperc1386
lullc1386
quieta1398
peasea1400
amesec1400
assuagec1400
mesec1400
soberc1430
modify?a1439
establish1477
establish1477
pacify1484
pacify1515
unbrace?1526
settle1530
steady1530
allay1550
calm1559
compromitc1574
restore1582
recollect1587
serenize1598
smooth1604
compose1607
recompose1611
becalm1613
besoothe1614
unprovokea1616
halcyon1616
unstrain1616
leniate1622
tranquillize1623
unperplexa1631
belull1631
sedate1646
unmaze1647
assopiatea1649
serenate1654
serene1654
tranquillify1683
soothe1697
unalarm1722
reserene1755
quietize1791
peacify1845
quieten1853
conjure1856
peace1864
disfever1880
patise1891
de-tension1961
mellow1974
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 127 (MED) Tach me swilche discipline þat ich þine wraððe muȝe softin.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 112 (MED) Wat þat is offrid in felony in þe sacrifice of God, it softiþ not, but steriþ his wraþe.
1493 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Pynson) x. vi. sig. I.iv/1 The iacke is softe and nesshe & by his softnesse..softithe & feynteth al strokes yat cummeth therayenst.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. App. i. 311 His collegis..set þame þe plesandest way þai mycht to soft [L. mollire] his preis.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. iv. 30 Providing so þai wald soft [L. mollirent] þe Indignacioun of þare myndis.
2. transitive. To ease or abate the intensity or pain of (an injury, sore, etc.); to assuage (a person's sorrow); to comfort or soothe (a person who is injured or distressed). Also intransitive. Cf. soften v. 3a. Now rare.In early use also with double object (e.g. quot. c1225).In quot. 1997 probably arising separately as a figurative use of sense 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > make less violent or severe [verb (transitive)] > mitigate or alleviate
lithec897
lighteOE
lissea1000
stillc1000
alightOE
alithe?a1200
softc1225
swagec1330
abate?c1335
easea1374
accoya1375
allegea1375
stintc1374
slakea1387
assuage1393
planea1400
slecka1400
plasterc1400
soften?c1415
lighten?a1425
mitigate?a1425
relievec1425
asoftc1430
alleviate?a1475
allevya1500
sletcha1500
alleve1544
allevate1570
salve?1577
sweetena1586
smooth1589
disembitter1622
deleniate1623
slaken1629
tranquillitate1657
soothe1711
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > anaesthetization, pain-killing, etc. > practise anaesthetization, pain-killing, etc. [verb (transitive)] > allay pain
lissea1000
softc1225
appeasec1374
releasea1393
stancha1398
mortifya1400
unpain1540
resolve1573
the mind > emotion > pleasure > state of being consoled or relieved > be relieved of [verb (transitive)] > console or relieve > relieve (suffering)
lissea1000
alightOE
allayc1225
softc1225
comfort1297
laya1300
eathea1325
allegea1375
appeasec1374
laska1375
slakea1387
releasea1393
balma1400
to bete one of one's balea1400
to cool a person's caresc1400
delivera1413
leggea1425
mitigate?a1425
repress?a1425
alleviate?a1475
allevya1500
alleve1544
leviate1545
lenify1567
allevate1570
ungrieve1589
straight1604
mulcify1653
balsama1666
solace1667
meliorate1796
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 14 Softe me mi sar swa, & salue mine wunden.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xv. 1151 Bugle mylk helpeþ aȝens fretyng and gnawynge of þe guttes for þey softeþ hem and eseþ [L. delinit] wiþ his fatnesse.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 463 Softyn, or comfortyn yn sorowe and mornynge, delinio.
a1450 R. Spaldyng Katereyn in Anglia (1907) 30 543 (MED) He sayd to þat semly her sorowes for to soft, [etc.].
c1450 (c1400) Julian of Norwich Revelations Divine Love: Shorter Version (1978) 79 (MED) For this reuerente drede, the mare it is hadde, the mare it softes and comfortes & pleses and restes.
c1480 (a1400) St. Adrian 295 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 280 With a faire clath scho clengit þare bilis, & softyt hurtis þat ware sare.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. cvi Wes nowthir solace nor sang thair sorow to soft.
1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. Civ It softeth the goute podagra in the fete.
1669 Hist. Sir Eger 52 Then the most wound that did him dear, My stones of vertue stemd the blood, I made him salve both fine and good, They softed him, and made him sleep.
1997 O. Stone Child's Night Dream viii. 74 The rosejoy of your lips, softing my sadness.
†3. transitive. To render (a person, the heart, etc.) less harsh, severe, or obdurate; to mollify, appease, pacify. Also with infinitive as complement, expressing an end or result of the action (e.g. quot. a1450). Also intransitive. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > absence of dissension or peace > bringing about concord or peace > bring to peace (strife or discord) [verb (transitive)] > appease or propitiate
soft?c1225
queema1325
appeasec1374
pleasea1382
softena1382
mollifya1450
pacifya1500
apeace1523
temper1525
mitigatea1535
qualify?c1550
thaw1582
propitiate1583
aslake1590
smooth1608
to lay down1629
addulce1655
sweeten1657
acquiesce1659
gentle1663
palliate1678
placate1678
conciliate1782
to pour oil on the waters (also on troubled waters)1847
square1859
square1945
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > treat gently [verb (transitive)] > make gentle or mild
soft?c1225
mild1340
melta1382
softenc1410
mollifya1450
amollish1474
amolify1483
ameeka1500
mellow1593
dulcify1647
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 180 Eadi bone softeð & paiȝeð ure lauerd.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 1164 (MED) Witt and resoun conseilen ofte That I myn herte scholde softe.
a1450 St. Katherine (Richardson 44) (1884) 48 (MED) Porphyry softed þe kepers to consente.
c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 31 Whan it is fulfilled with old sinne and harded I softe it and make it weepe.
c1450 Speculum Christiani (Harl. 6580) (1933) 214 (MED) Prayer quemez god, bot the tere constreynez; prayer softez, the tere compellez.
1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 63 Ther is no herte of lady so hard, but by the vertu of youre requestes muste nedes be softed & molefied.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. v. xiii. 194 The distributioun of þir landis softit..þe myndis of small pepill.
1595 E. Spenser Amoretti xxxii, in Amoretti & Epithalamion sig. Cv Yet cannot all these flames..her hart more harde then yron soft awhit.
1664 R. Flecknoe Love's Kingdom iv. 49 Thou who the hardest bosom softs; Soften Bellinda's heart.
1830 C. Bury Jrnl. of Heart 43 Some shillings softed his heart, and obtained for me admission.
1888 W. S. Gilbert Brantinghame Hall i. 8 We're a roughish lot, but there ain't one of us as she ain't softed.
1922 C. Guernon Titans ix. 244 So she's softed him up to that, has she, wi' her fears an' her tears an' her tremblin's?
4. intransitive. To become less harsh, severe, or intense. In early use chiefly of weather. Also with up. Cf. soften v. 7a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > become less violent or severe [verb (intransitive)]
allayc1275
softc1300
assuage1330
swagec1330
slakea1352
stanchc1420
overslakec1425
appeasec1440
to swage ofc1440
to sit downa1555
soften1565
slack1580
mitigate1633
moderate1737
gentle1912
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > become (more) sensitive or tender [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of the heart
softc1300
relent1509
allay1723
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 6008 Þe wind gan a-legge an þat weder softi [c1275 Calig. weder leoðede].
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxiv. 99 Than begynnis drouthis and grete hete of sonne to regne, and wyndis softis.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxxxiii. §2. 306 My hert softid in swetnes of luf.
a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece Hist. Scotl. f. 263v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Soft v. Eftir the tempest of weddir sum parte was softit; Scottis & Pichtis [etc.].
c1650 (a1500) Eger & Grime (Percy) (1933) 412 Your wounds..will soft and sober soon.
1917 P. Worth Sorry Tale i. ii. 19 So hath Theia's heart softed.
1997 Y. M. Murray Locas 171 His carved face softing up like a puppy's.
†5. transitive. To make (one's words) plausible or convincing, esp. speciously so. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > flatter [verb (intransitive)]
fikea1225
flatter?c1225
ficklec1230
blandisha1340
smooth1340
glaver1380
softa1382
glozec1386
to hold (also bear) up oila1387
glothera1400
flaitec1430
smekec1440
love?a1500
flata1522
blanch1572
cog1583
to smooth it1583
smooth1587
collogue1602
to oil the tongue1607
sleek1607
wheedle1664
pepper1784
blarney1837
to pitch (the) woo1935
flannel1941
sweet-talk1956
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Psalms liv. 22 Softid [L. molliti] ben the woordis of hym vp on oile; and thei ben speris.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. ii. 16 That thou be take awey fro an alien womman, and fro a straunge, that softeth [L. mollit] hir woordis.
6. transitive. To make physically soft or softer; = soften v. 4a. Also in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > soften [verb (transitive)]
neshOE
supplea1398
mollify?a1425
softa1425
soften?a1425
unharden1552
intenerate1595
malax1634
tender1725
untemper1758
leath1796
a1425 (a1349) R. Rolle Meditations on Passion (Uppsala) (1917) 56 (MED) A drope of þi blood dropping vp on my soule in mynde of þi passioun may souple and softe my soule in þi grace þat is so hard.
c1425 (c1400) Prymer (Cambr.) (1895) 60 (MED) Wheþer þou hast not softid [L. mulsisti] me as mylk, and hast cruddid me to-gideres as chese?
a1450 St. Katherine (Richardson 44) (1884) 28 (MED) The erthe also is softed wyth rayn and aȝeyn ward made hard wyth froost.
1617 P. Holland tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni 120 It moysteth and softeth the body.
a1654 A. Grosse Buddings & Blossomings Old Truths (1656) 85 Like the Sun softing the waxe, hardning the clay.
1709 J. Addison Let. from Italy (new ed.) 6 The smooth Chissel all his Force has shown, And softed into Flesh the rugged Stone.
1860 S. C. Foster Music (1990) II. 111 What is all this that is blowing around. All softed and scattered and strewn on the ground.
1888 Odontographic Jrnl. 9 162 The higher the degree of heat, the more will steel be softed.
1975 12th Ann. Cookbk. 47/5 in Hubbard (Ohio) News 28 May One four oz. pkg. cream cheese, softed to room temperature.
1994 Bird Keeper May 28/1 Seeds softed or partially digested in the crops of the adults are offered.
†7. transitive (reflexive). To calm or restrain oneself. Cf. soft adv. 7c. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > calmness > compose oneself [verb (reflexive)]
stilla1325
spakea1400
amesec1400
soft?a1500
stay1537
recollect1595
collect1602
compose1607
recompose1611
to reassume oneself1635
relax1685
summon1745
mellow1974
centre1980
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Husbandman l. 2386 in Poems (1981) 89 Schir,..we ar at it almaist; Soft ȝow ane lytill, and ȝe sall se it sone.
?1553 (c1501) G. Douglas Palice of Honour (London) iii. l. 1943 in Shorter Poems (1967) 120 Carlyng (quod I) quhat wes ȝone, at thow said. Soft ȝow (said sche) thay ar not wyse that stryuys.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

softadv.

Brit. /sɒft/, U.S. /sɔft/, /sɑft/
Forms: Old English seft (comparative), Old English softa (transmission error), Old English–1600s softe, Middle English sofft, Middle English soffte, Middle English soofte, Middle English zofte (south-eastern), Middle English– soft, 1500s safte, 1800s– saft (Scottish).
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Saxon sāfto , Old Dutch samfto (Middle Dutch sachte , Dutch zacht ), Middle Low German sachte , safte , Old High German samfto (Middle High German sanfte , samfte , German sanft ) < the same Germanic base as sefte adj. + a suffix forming adverbs.In Old English the inherited comparative form sēft (with i-mutation) (compare quot. OE2 at sense 1a) is attested alongside the analogical (unmutated) form sōftor ; compare discussion at -er suffix3 and also at bet adv.1 The following example is sometimes interpreted as showing the mutated comparative form with analogical final -e :OE Genesis B 433 Siððan ic me sefte mæg restan on þyssum racentum, gif him þæt rice losað.However, it is perhaps more likely to show the nominative singular masculine form of the adjective sēfte sefte adj. With sense 8 compare earlier soft-boiled adj. N.E.D. (1913) gives the pronunciation as (sǫ̀ft) /sɒft/, /sɔːft/ (see discussion at soft adj.).
Softly (in various senses).
1.
a. In a quiet or peaceful state; in a comfortable or easy manner; on a soft bed, couch, etc. Formerly also: †luxuriously (obsolete). Esp. in to sleep soft. Now poetic or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > quietness or tranquillity > [adverb]
softOE
i-semelichec1275
peaceablya1382
restfully1433
quietly1488
quietously1546
restly1561
quiet1568
calmly1597
reposedly1598
lowna1600
undisturbedly1647
peacefully1667
tranquilly1756
stilly1802
lownly1820
reposefully1852
sleepily1873
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > physical comfort > [adverb]
softOE
at likinga1398
commodiously1420
beinly?a1500
at home1531
in sufficiencec1550
softly1567
snugly1590
easefully1611
comfortably1634
cosily1721
lown1724
snug1766
lownly1788
tosh1808
comfily1917
OE Genesis A (1931) 179 He wæs reste fæst, and softe swæf.
OE Beowulf (2008) 2749 Bio nu on ofoste, þæt ic ærwelan, goldæht ongite.., þæt ic ðy seft mæge æfter maððumwelan min alætan lif ond leodscipe.
lOE King Ælfred tr. St. Augustine Soliloquies (Vitell.) (1922) Pref. 1 And fegerne tun timbrian,..and þær murge and softe mid mæge on eardian.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3163 He wes a wel god mon & softe he wolde libben.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1998 Þer he læi softe &..slepte.
a1350 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 133 (MED) Vp o lofte, þe deuel may sitte softe & holden his halymotes ofte.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. lviii. 414 Þis euel brediþ in hem [þat] lyueþ esylyche and softe, and trauaileþ not but lite.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 3796 Wele was he gladid of þat sight, Soft him thoght he slep þat nyht.
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 63 Y shal ȝeue ȝow soche a medecyne þat ȝe shulle swete anone ryȝt, and softe slepe.
?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature iii. sig. Cviiiv I loke vp Aloft, and loue to lye soft.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 207 Thy Flatterers..drinke Wine, lye soft . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iii. 333 I will..sleepe as soft As Captaine shall. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 254 Soft on the flourie herb I found me laid. View more context for this quotation
1781 W. Cowper Anti-Thelypthora 8 Fancy..laid her soft in Amaranthine flow'rs.
1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. x. 237 The riches of the East expended that they might sleep soft, and wake to magnificence.
1850 E. B. Browning Sleep iv Sleep soft, beloved!
a1917 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick (1927) 20 Thay canna sit soft; they're aye natterin an fechtin.
1976 N. Maclean River runs through It 197 They'd been sitting soft all summer around a green table while we'd been getting case-hardened climbing high hills.
2013 K. Shell Place called Home vii. 90 Snowy wonderland has crept upon the world again, And every child sleeps soft in fluffy bed.
b. In soft wrappings, surroundings, etc. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > luxury or luxurious living > [adverb]
softlya1375
softc1405
luxuriously1605
plushily1916
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 583 He..bad this Sergeant þt he pryuely Sholde this child softe wynde and wrappe With alle circumstances tendrely.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 2401 Þat Iowell..Þat was full sekirly & soft all in silke falden.
?a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 46 (MED) Do hit in a cloþ, and ley hit to þe felon or to þe postom and hele hit softe with-oute eny tret.
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 21v They were smoothly appareled, soft lodged, daintely feasted.
a1664 M. Frank LI Serm. (1672) 266 Stuff the body with meat and drink, let it lodge soft, and lie long.
1744 J. Thomson Spring in Seasons (new ed.) 41 Villages embosom'd soft in Trees.
1886 H. E. Walker Lady of Dardale 314 Upon the floor he tumbled, Folded soft in broidered dress.
1900 V. Fane Betwixt two Seas 27 Wrapped soft in silk and miniver.
1930 G. L. Hill Gold Shoe xiii. 182 The little shoe was with her, wrapped soft in a silk handkerchief.
c. Chiefly in Russian or Chinese contexts: using the highest class of accommodation available on a train; first-class.Used with reference to the upholstered seats in such accommodation. Cf. soft adj. 8c, hard adv. 7b.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > [adverb] > by specific class
soft1893
1893 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang III. 267/2 Hard,..3. Third-class... ‘Do you go hard or soft?’ = ‘Do you go third or first?’
1930 Times 14 Oct. 15/6 They are both travelling soft [first-class].
1939 ‘M. Innes’ Stop Press i. ii. 44 As a matter of fact, he's on the train now. But of course travelling soft.
1976 Times 13 Nov. 11/1 Trains in China are made up of classless coaches but you travel hard or soft according to your position.
1987 Toronto Star 4 Apr. h13 Rather than ‘first’ or ‘second’ class, one travels ‘soft’ or ‘hard’.
2.
†a. In a gentle manner; without harshness, roughness, severity, or violence. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adverb]
lithelyc897
softeOE
mildOE
methelyOE
mildlyOE
mansuetelyc1429
gently1525
gentle1548
tenderfully1640
laxly1785
placably1797
unfrowardly1869
eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) xx. 7 Ðu, ece God, ealra gesceafta, wundorlice wel gesceope ungesewenlica, and eac swa same gesewenlicra softe wealdest scirra gesceafta.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxxi. 14 He of mansceatte and of mane eac sniome hiora sawle softe alysdon [read alysde]; ys his nama for him neode gebyrhted.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3874 An-oðer siðe he went is ðogt Betre and softere.
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 605 (MED) Take him vp in þine armes to & lay him soft on þe grounde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 58 Wyt chaunce of ded,..þat soft began has endyng smart.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 2708 And hym she roggith & a-wakyth softe.
a1500 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Chetham) l. 605 With drinke and salffe she helid hym softe.
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades vi. 119 Hector he his sonne..doth coil and kus, With pleasant mind he holds him softe.
1621 R. Aylett Brides Ornaments ii. iii, in Song of Songs 164 Soules burthened with their iniquitie Shee handeleth most soft and tenderly.
b. Without much force, intensity, or vigour; lightly, gently.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adverb] > without harshness or gently
lightlyeOE
neshlyeOE
fairOE
neshc1175
softlyc1225
softa1325
hoolya1340
tenderlyc1385
soft and fair(ly)c1391
weakly1398
delicately?a1425
prettilyc1500
gently1533
gentle1548
breathingly1662
blandly1827
sparingly1863
piano1873
gauzily1903
creamily1948
a1325 Diuersa Cibaria in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 54 (MED) Mon saiþ þe laumprey mak scorchen, &..mak hit al tohewen..mak hit softe boillen, & meddle wiþ speces.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 5025 He..Betwen him and his Asse al softe Hath drawe and set him up alofte Withouten harm al esely.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 784 (MED) Who clymbeth hyȝe may not falle softe.
a1450 in T. Austin Two 15th-cent. Cookery-bks. (1888) 22 Wrynge it soft þorw a straynoure.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (1999) II. l. 10252 As sone as þe flood wiþdrow, Þe shippe was set softe ynow Vpon a greet hiland an hy.
1581 H. Chillester Youthes Witte 102 What though I slippe, and that I fall not softe.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xii. 54 2.Gent. T'is like a Coffin... Cer. Wrench it open soft.
1650 J. Burroughs et al. Expos. 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th Chapters Hosea (v. 5) 398 If we fall we shall fall soft and not hard.
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 18 Silky-soft Favonius breathe still softer, or be chid.
1757 T. Gray Ode II ii. ii, in Odes 17 Fair laughs the Morn, and soft the Zephyr blows.
1793 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches 14 Nature loves to show'r Soft on his wounded heart her healing pow'r.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Lotos-eaters: Choric Song i, in Poems (new ed.) 111 There is sweet music here that softer falls, Than petals from blown roses on the grass.
1891 C. T. C. James Romantic Rigmarole 175 ‘I fall soft,’ he said.
1957 W. Sullivan Sojourn of Stranger (2003) x. 113 There was a breeze blowing soft and damp off the river.
2010 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) (Nexis) 1 Sept. The rain fell soft and steadily.
3.
†a. With or at a slow or leisurely pace; not hastily or hurriedly. Obsolete.In quot. eOE in a figurative context (the ultimate source of the gloss is Aldhelm De laude virginitatis 39).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > slowness > [adverb] > unhurriedly
softeOE
easily1384
leisurely1486
leisurablya1540
deliberately1595
unhurriedly1880
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in J. J. Quinn Minor Lat.-Old Eng. Glossaries in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1956) 143 [Uerborum gressibus] gradatim spatiantes : softe hweorfende.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2776 Swiðe monie þer fluwen & ferden to Rome & Brennes þe riche softe heom beh æfter.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10574 Fuse we nu forð-ward uaste to-somne, æfne al swa softe swa we nan ufel ne þohten.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 2618 (MED) He foren softe bi þe sti Til he come ney at grimesbi.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1725 He set hire on his hors tofore And forth he takth his weie softe.
c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 2982 Polidonias, Come afftirward with qwene Eleyne, Rydyng soffte vpon the pleyne.
c1450 Bk. Marchalsi (Harl. 6398) (1973) f. 3v (MED) Þan may þu ryde hym fayre and softe, but nowt renne.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxi. 259 All soft may men go far.
1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Ci Thou hast forgotten to go softe Thou art so hasty on thy way.
1606 J. Finet tr. R. de Lucinge Beginning, Continuance, & Decay Estates i. ix. 51 They haue marched faire and soft from country to country.
1663 F. B. Vercingetorixa 26 The Parson, Brother, and his Friend, Bid him, Ride soft to's Journeys end.
1748 J. Thomson Castle of Indolence ii. xxi Or where old Cam soft-paces o'er the Lea In pensive Mood.
1850 W. N. Lettsom tr. Fall of Nibelungers lxxiv. 13 Their steeds they meetly govern'd, all pacing soft abreast.
b. With gentle movement; unobtrusively; without (much) noise or sound; quietly. Now regional or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > faintness or weakness > [adverb] > without much noise
stilla1225
lowc1275
softc1275
stilledlyc1275
softlyc1330
fairly?a1425
basely1562
piano piano1601
smally1611
pacatelya1652
impercussively1694
pianissimoc1710
deftly1787
suppressedly1825
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adverb] > without harshness or gently > and gradually or quietly
softc1275
piano piano1601
softly1785
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13283 Þæs cnihtes siȝen þurh þene wude wunder ane softe.
c1300 St. Wulstan (Laud) 147 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 75 Þis holie Man wende forth a-mon[g] heom alle wel softe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17288 + 127 For drede þai stynted oft For ferd of þe Iews, and sithen welk ful soft.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 1535 He softe in to his bedde gan for to slynke To slepe longe.
?c1500 in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 43 (MED) Whan he cam all in the croofte, there he stalkyd wundirfull soofte.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. xi. sig. L3 Him follow'd Yar, soft washing Norwitch wall. View more context for this quotation
1693 S. Wesley Life our Blessed Lord iv. 134 She at the signal glides as soft away.
1747 W. Collins Odes 49 [Runnels] Dashing soft from Rocks around.
1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 97 Then by the bed-side..soft he set A table.
1845 J. H. Ingraham Grace Weldon iv. 18 Hearin' nothin', I crept soft, and found myself in the room.
1916 Lantern Jan. 307 Tingling with all guilt from crown to heel, Stole soft on tiptoe, seeking what to steal.
1999 J. Marillier Daughter of Forest (2000) i. 23 My feet will tread soft as a deer in the forest.
4. In a low voice or tone; with a soft, melodious, or pleasing sound; not loudly or harshly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adverb] > pleasant > soft and gentle
lowc1275
softc1300
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > volume > [adverb] > softly
softa1550
demurelya1616
piano1762
sotto voce1776
c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) 449 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 232 Þis Monekes beden seint brendan, þat he softe speke.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9769 Þis godeman sat adoun akne..& wel softe..sede þis orison.
c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 41 (MED) Mercurius, that softe singeth, With his floite the pepill enchaunteth.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) v. v. sig. i.iij She..sayd Syre knyghte speke softe, for yonder is a deuyll.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 187 (MED) The wys man wenethe he Softe laghyth.
a1550 in R. Dyboski Songs, Carols & Other Misc. Poems (1908) 118 Syng softe, I say, leste yowr nose blede.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xii. sig. Aa8v The waters fall with difference discreet, Now soft, now loud.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. i. 67 Little haue you to say When you depart from him, but soft and low, Remember now my brother. View more context for this quotation
1691 H. Purcell Vocal & Instrumental Musick of Prophetess 12 (directions) Play soft.
a1763 W. Shenstone Nancy of Vale iii, in Wks. (1777) I. 128 When from an hazle's artless bower Soft warbled Strephon's tongue.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 779 And streams..Now murm'ring soft, now roaring in cascades.
1820 J. Keats Lamia ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 39 Soft went the music the soft air along.
1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lii. 79 The wanderer..Halts on the bridge to hearken How soft the poplars sigh.
1899 Amer. Farmer Mag. Apr. 322/2 The church bells sound soft and clear across the rippling river.
1996 D. Dabydeen Counting House (1997) 113 Just because Vidia talk soft and work hard don't mean he can't box you in the face.
2015 B. K. Johnson & M. Hunter Articulate Witness iii. 41 Keep your cool and speak softer to control your emotions.
†5. To a slight degree or extent; slightly. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > to a small extent or slightly
lightlyeOE
liteOE
littleOE
a litec1290
smallc1300
softc1390
smally?a1425
slenderlya1513
hoverly1549
remissly1557
slender1581
not half1583
faintly1590
slightly1594
lankly1611
lowly1655
slight1671
nicely1698
weakly1775
sparingly1796
jimply1816
feebly1830
slightually1859
marginally1960
c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 547 Ffor muche to bi-hote & ȝiue but softe, Makeþ mon to be chalanged ofte.
†6. Sweetly, fragrantly. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > fragrance > [adverb]
sootc1000
spice-likea1325
sweeta1325
softa1400
fragrantly?1521
sweetlya1547
odoriferously1601
nectarel1648
aromatically1657
ambrosially1826
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9357 Sco smelles better þen piment, And wel softer [Fairf. soter] hir uestement þan ani recles þat es brent.
7. As an imperative. Used either to enjoin silence or deprecate haste.
a. Standing alone. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > be silent [interjection]
silence?c1225
peacec1390
whista1425
softlya1500
softc1500
husht1532
ist1540
st1552
soft and peace1576
pocas palabras1592
isse1598
hist1599
whish1635
whisht1684
quiet1814
fusht1816
pax1843
sh1847
pst1863
ciunas1987
the world > action or operation > manner of action > slowness of action or operation > [interjection] > deprecating haste
softlya1500
softc1500
soft swift1597
pole pole1934
c1500 Debate Carpenter's Tools in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1987) 38 459 ‘Softe, ser,’ seyd þe gabull-rope. ‘Me thinke gode ale is in ȝour tope.’
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell sig. a.iv Soft my good syster and make there a pawse.
a1557 J. Cheke tr. Gospel St. Matthew (1843) xxvii. 49 And ye resideu said, Soft, let vs se whiyer helias com to save him or no.
a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. D3v Soft sir, a word with you.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. v. 283 Not too fast: soft, soft . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 389 Soft Swaine a-while, beseech you. View more context for this quotation
1734 J. Ralph et al. Cornish Squire i. vi. 22 Phy. I'll take all imaginable Care of him. Love. Soft, Sir; here he is.
1794 P. Hoare My Grandmother i. 10 Soft, soft, stay here;—my dear!
1810 P. B. Shelley Posthumous Fragm. M. Nicholson 15 Soft, my dearest angel, stay.
1852 M. Arnold Tristram & Iseult i. 7 Soft—who is that stands by the dying fire?
1914 P. MacKaye Sanctuary iii. 17 Soft, soft! Not so pell-mell!
2011 A. E. Smith Queen by Right vi. 419 Soft, my dear lady. We have no quarrel with Duchess Cecily.
b. Preceded by but. Now archaic.
ΚΠ
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Cij But soft syrs, I pray you huysh.
1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet sig. Cv But soft, I must now make a graue speach.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 44 But soft, what light forth yonder window breakes? View more context for this quotation
1639 N. N. tr. J. Du Bosc Compl. Woman i. 8 But soft, wee take nothing from Pagans.
a1721 J. Sheffield Wks. (1753) I. 179 A night..All black, and terrible! but soft! stand close.
1782 H. More Moses in Sacred Dramas iii. 36 No one sees me: But soft, does no one listen?
1820 Ld. Byron Blues ii. 24 A rabble who know not—But soft, here they come!
1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 455/1 But soft, she sleeps.
1925 Amer. Mercury Aug. 470/1 But soft, not so fast!
2000 R. Topping Kevin & Perry go Large iii. 22 But soft, friends, don't be sad.
†c. Sometimes followed by you. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1573 J. Bridges Supremacie Christian Princes 762 Nay soft ye (say you) I graunt this but with a perchaunce.
1590 J. Newnham Nightcrowe viii. 33 But soft you dame stay the bridle [printed brilde] a while.
1599 George a Greene sig. B3 Nay, soft you, sir, you get no entrance here.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 90 Soft you now, The faire Ophelia. View more context for this quotation
1635 J. Mede Wks. (1672) 836 But soft you there, I like not that Method.
1765 C. Smart tr. Phaedrus Fables v. v. 199 Soft ye, a word before I go.
1893 A. Rives Athelwold iv. i. 73 Softyou; This hath mine ear.
8. So as to be tender or soft (in sense 12 of the adjective); to a point of softness. Frequently in to boil (something) soft (cf. soft-boil v.).
ΚΠ
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 299 Shrimpes beaten softe with water (as thicke as hony).
1698 W. Salmon Ars Chirurgica iii. v. 516/1 Althea-roots, White-lily-roots, both bruised soft;..Figs boiled soft.
1787 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. Sidda, pease or vegetables that boil soft.
1828 New Eng. Farmer 11 July 401/2 Mash them [sc. the currants] soft with a spoon, put them in a bag, and squeeze out the juice.
1902 W. I. Hannan Textile Fibres Commerce 54 The raw material..when beaten out soft is used for wadding in clothing and coverlets.
1997 C. B. Divakaruni Mistress of Spices 179 What you mean your husband refuse to eat it? Boil it soft and mix a lot of fried onion and dhania leaf, and he is not knowing any better.

Phrases

†P1. soft and fair(ly).
a. Softly, gently, mildly; leisurely. Cf. fair adv. 5. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adverb] > without harshness or gently
lightlyeOE
neshlyeOE
fairOE
neshc1175
softlyc1225
softa1325
hoolya1340
tenderlyc1385
soft and fair(ly)c1391
weakly1398
delicately?a1425
prettilyc1500
gently1533
gentle1548
breathingly1662
blandly1827
sparingly1863
piano1873
gauzily1903
creamily1948
the world > action or operation > manner of action > slowness of action or operation > [phrase] > without haste
in (good) leisurec1315
by leisurec1386
soft and fairc1391
to go slow1664
in a slow hurry1849
c1391 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Huntington) vii. l. 3234* Thus have I told thee softe and faire Mi feith.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 3415 (MED) Humblesce..takth ayein, but softe and faire, If eny thing stond in contraire, With humble speche it is redresced.
a1500 How Good Man taught his Son (Cambr.) l. 151 in Erlanger Beiträge zur Englischen Philol. (1889) 2 33 Softe and feyre men make tame Harte, bukk and wylde roo.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 842/1 Softe and fayre, tout bellement.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Tobit xi. 3 Let the husholde with thy wife and ye catell come soft & fayrly after vs.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Cunctanter, slowly; safte and fayre; leasurely.
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. 1104 That the Queen should follow soft and fair.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 29 The Arts..are in processe of time soft and faire forged by a continuall meditation.
1727 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman II. i. ii. 56 The Posts whip and spur; but the Plowman and the Carrier go soft and fair.
1757 W. Cowper tr. Horace in W. Duncombe et al. tr. Horace Wks. II. 107 O'er the Causeway, soft and fair, To Appii-forum we repair.
1912 C. Gouldsbury Songs out of Exile 137 Lobengula spoke him soft and fair.
b. As an imperative: = sense 7. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1536 J. Gwynneth Confutacyon Fyrst Parte Frythes Boke v. sig. bv What softe and fayre, thou hast promysed, to folow reason, & now thou begynnest to flee from it.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. iv. 72 Soft and faire Frier, which is Beatrice? View more context for this quotation
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Tout beau, take your leisure, soft and faire, not too fast.
1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull Still in Senses viii. 36 Soft and fair, Gentlemen (quoth I) my Mother's my Mother.
1762 S. Foote Orators i. 8 Soft and fair; we must walk before we can run.
1851 M. F. Tupper Ballads for Times (new ed.) 118 Good dog: after her!—soft and fair!
c. Proverb. soft and fair goes far. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 3/1 Soft and faire goes far in a day.
1681 Heraclitus Ridens 6 Sept. 2/1 Soft and fair goes far in a Day.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew at Fair Soft and Fair goes far.
1730 J. Mottley Widow Bewitch'd iv. 44 Soft and fair goes far.
1736 R. Ainsworth Thes. Linguæ Latinæ I. (at cited word) Soft and fair goeth far, festina lente.
1781 J. Newton Cardiphonia I. 257 I believe the old proverb, Soft and fair goes far, will hold good.
1883 Midland Med. Misc. Sept. 273/1 Most of these may be summed up in the following proverbs... Soft and fair goes far.
†P2. soft and peace: = sense 7. Cf. Phrases 1b. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > be silent [interjection]
silence?c1225
peacec1390
whista1425
softlya1500
softc1500
husht1532
ist1540
st1552
soft and peace1576
pocas palabras1592
isse1598
hist1599
whish1635
whisht1684
quiet1814
fusht1816
pax1843
sh1847
pst1863
ciunas1987
1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas sig. F.ijv Cruel? nay iust, (yea softe and peace good sir) For Iustice sleepes.

Compounds

C1.
a. With present participles, as soft-brushing, soft-circling, soft-ebbing, etc. Frequent in 18th-century poetry.
(a) In predicative use. Formerly also with adverbs formed from present participles. Now rare (chiefly poetic).
ΚΠ
a1500 (?a1400) Firumbras (1935) l. 1658 Duk terry..kest hym on a mule ful softe beryng.
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 60 One, in the fresh shade of an Apple-Tree Lets hang its Quiuer, while soft-pantingly 'T exhales hot Vapour.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 300 Wave rowling after Wave,..If steep, with torrent rapture, if through Plaine, Soft-ebbing . View more context for this quotation
1710 A. Philips Pastorals ii. 6 Their Notes soft-warb'ling to the gladsome Spring.
1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xvii. 310 They heard, soft-circling in the sky, Sweet Airs ascend.
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes II. iii. xi. 18 The Dog of Hell, Immense of Bulk, to Thee soft-soothing fell.
1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 5 The God..soft-brushing, in his speed, The taller grasses.
1845 F. W. Faber Let. 29 Jan. in R. Chapman Father Faber (1961) vi. 103 When I know how miserably sinful and soft-living I have been, I ought never to have stepped out in the way that I have done.
1875 H. W. Longfellow Hanging of Crane iv. 22 Limpid as planets..Soft-shining through the summer night.
a1918 W. Owen Coll. Poems (1963) 103 And through those snows my looks shall be soft-going.
1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 45 Like curd soft-falling.
1944 E. Blunden Shells by Stream 49 The cloud soft-flaming past the mountain wall.
1957 L. Grenelle No Light Evaded 78 Stern, soft-stepping, tall-standing, he never complained about anything.
(b) In attributive use.
ΚΠ
1553 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Eneados iii. f. liiv The soft [L. lenis] piping wynd, calling to se.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion iii. 48 As some soft-sliding Rill..Extends it selfe at length vnto a goodly streame.
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche iv. ccxiii. 56 By the side Of some soft-murmuring Current.
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes II. iii. xix. 20 The soft-swelling Pipe, and the Hautboy sonorous.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. ii. 302 Benign, soft-shining goddess [sc. Hope].
1791 S. T. Coleridge Math. Probl. iii The soft-flowing daughter of fright.
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague in Poems (1825) I. 299 Sinking down As through soft-yielding waters murmuring round me.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year II. c. 191 The light from those soft-smiling eyes.
1829 D. Jerrold Black-ey'd Susan i. i. 13 That pretty piece of soft-speaking womanhood.
1836 E. B. Browning Poet's Vow ii. xiii The silence left By that soft-throbbing speech.
1888 W. Whitman November Boughs 33 And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower... I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.
1892 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 13 Here a soft-treading waiter knocks upon the door.
1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 24 Soft-sailing waters where fears No longer shake.
1965 F. Sargeson Mem. Peon iv. 73 The shapely soft-speaking Maori girl..brought me a plate of sandwiches.
1975 New Yorker 5 May 109/1 He hit a great, soft-falling shot seven feet beyond the flag.
1977 Times 17 Mar. 18/6 A soft-living Mayfair clientele.
2006 Wall St. Jrnl. 17 Mar. (Central ed.) w4/5 Jason Reitman..wrote this soft-hitting adaptation from Christopher Buckley's comic novel.
b. With past participles, as soft-bedded, soft-extended, soft-roast, soft-roasted, etc. See also soft-landed adj. at soft-land v. Derivatives.
(a) In predicative use.
ΚΠ
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount f. 26v A new laied Egge, soft roste [Fr. cuit mollet].
1656 L. Coelson Poor-Mans Physician 69 Put one spoonfull of it into a new laid egge soft rosted.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. vii. 435 There, soft-extended,..Ulysses sleeps profound.
1726 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xix. 119 A seat soft spread with furry spoils prepare.
1736 R. Savage in Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 673/1 Reproof, soft-hinted, taught the blush to glow.
1743 E. Young Complaint: Night the Fourth 37 Their distant Strain,..Soft-wafted on celestial Pity's Plume.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. ix. 69/2 Not sufficiently honoured,..soft-bedded, and lovingly cared for?
1865 S. F. A. Caulfeild Ugolino 53 Soft cradled on life's heaving breast.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1124 The ground is soft-carpeted with leaves.
2015 A. P. Ortins Authentic Portuguese Cooking 193/2 Simmer over medium-low heat.., until the eggs are soft poached.
(b) In attributive use.
ΚΠ
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. 28/1 We must first let him suppe in a soft-dressed egge [Du. een weec Eyken].
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xvii. cclviii. 334 Those lusty thoughts which in a soft-lay'd Dream [etc.].
1682 A. Behn City-heiress i. i. 8 The stealths of Love..the soft-breath'd murmuring Passion.
1747 W. Mason Musæus 15 Soft-wreathed bands of flow'rs.
1748 J. Thomson Castle of Indolence i. xx The soft-embodied fays through airy portal stream.
1771 Philos. Trans. 1770 (Royal Soc.) 60 122 They have shoes of soft-tanned moose skin.
1791 M. Robinson Poems I. 63 Italia's gales shall bear my song In soft-link'd notes her woods among.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 481 This soft and soft-glazed pottery is easily scratched by a knife.
a1835 F. D. Hemans To New-born in Wks. (1839) VI. 196 Bending o'er thy soft-seal'd eyes.
1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xxx. 324 A lace-work of soft-tinted crystals of sulphur.
1893 Outing 22 123/1 The soft-finished, braided raw-silk line.
1940 E. Blunden Poems 1930–40 193 Choose this soft-tinted willow tree.
2015 Northlines (New Delhi, India) (Nexis) 21 Nov. Soft sponge cushioned ear pads & adjustable soft padded headbands.
c. With adjectives, e.g. soft-bright, soft-lucent.
ΚΠ
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. iv. 38 Light Apollo, so clear, soft-lucent.
1863 Ld. Houghton Sel. from Wks. 216 Disparted all those soft-bright diadems.
2011 S. Millhauser in New Yorker 3 Jan. 59/3 He's stepping on soft-crackly pine needles.
C2.
soft-ripened adj. ripened until soft; spec. designating any of various cheeses with a soft (typically edible) rind and a yielding, buttery internal consistency when mature; cf. soft cheese n. at soft adj. Compounds 2a.
ΚΠ
1902 Exam. Paper in Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. Eng. 63 App. p. cxcvii Describe the conditions essential to the production of soft ripened cheeses.
1974 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 3 Sept. 13/5 Fully ripened fruit (but not soft-ripened fruit) may be canned without sugar.
1982 J. Rosso & S. Lukins Silver Palate Cookbk. 237/2 Fleur d'Hermitage is a full-flavored, soft-ripened table cheese from the Lorraine region of France.
2011 B. Scott-Goodman Wine Bites iii. 56 Soft-ripened cheeses..are big crowd-pleasers and good choices for parties.
soft-spun n. (of yarn, etc.) loosely twisted in spinning; also (and in earliest use) figurative (cf. hard-spun adj. at hard adv. Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [adjective] > spun > spun in specific way
soft-spuna1657
rough-spun1701
z-spun1935
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry V ccxlviii, in Poems (1878) IV. 163 Spred the feild ore with Soft-Spun Carcasses.
1752 M. Browne Sunday Thoughts (new ed.) iii, in Wks. & Rest of Creation 224 Bland Artifice, and soft-spun Phrase.
1772 J. J. Bachmair Compl. German Gram. (ed. 3) App. 295/2 Lucker gesponnen, soft spun.
1902 W. de la Mare Songs of Childhood 96 As if it were a perfect jewel in the morning's soft-spun hair.
1906 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 864/2 at Yarn The yarn is defined as soft spun, medium spun, hard spun, according to the amount of twist it has received.
1995 Washington Post (Nexis) 19 May n19 The soft-spun gospel-flavored ‘Daddy's Home’ poignantly addresses father-son relationships.
2003 Wearables Business (Nexis) 1 May 6 Knitted camp shirts made of 100% soft spun cotton in a 6.5 oz. fabric.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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