EASE


Meaning of EASE in English

I. ease 1 /iːz/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ ease , ↑ unease , ↑ easiness , uneasiness; adverb : ↑ easily , ↑ uneasily , ↑ easy ; adjective : ↑ easy , ↑ uneasy ; verb : ↑ ease ]

[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: aise 'comfort' ]

1 . with ease if you do something with ease, it is very easy for you to do it SYN easily :

They won with ease.

The security codes could be broken with relative ease.

I was impressed by the ease with which the information could be retrieved.

2 . at ease feeling relaxed, especially in a situation in which people might feel a little nervous

at ease with

She felt completely at ease with Bernard.

put/set somebody at (their) ease (=make someone feel relaxed)

She had an ability to put people at their ease.

3 . ill at ease not relaxed:

You always look ill at ease in a suit.

4 . ease of application/use etc written how easy something is to use etc, or the quality of being easy to use etc:

It emphasizes the software’s convenience and ease of use.

for ease of something

The bowl is removable for ease of cleaning.

5 . the ability to feel relaxed or behave in a natural relaxed way:

He had a natural ease which made him very popular.

6 . a life of ease a comfortable life, without problems or worries

7 . (stand) at ease used to tell soldiers to stand in a relaxed way with their feet apart

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ phrases

▪ with great/considerable ease (=very easily)

The car handles these mountain roads with great ease.

▪ with apparent ease (=seeming easy, although this may not be the case)

I was amazed by the apparent ease with which she got through the security system.

▪ with comparative/relative ease (=seeming easy, especially considering how difficult something is)

Most modern laptops can store large amounts of data with comparative ease.

▪ with consummate ease formal (=in a way that shows great skill and so makes something difficult look very easy)

It was a beautiful goal, scored with consummate ease.

II. ease 2 W3 BrE AmE verb

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ ease , ↑ unease , ↑ easiness , uneasiness; adverb : ↑ easily , ↑ uneasily , ↑ easy ; adjective : ↑ easy , ↑ uneasy ; verb : ↑ ease ]

1 . IMPROVE [intransitive and transitive] if something unpleasant eases, or if you ease it, it gradually improves or becomes less

ease the pain/stress/tension

He’ll give you something to ease the pain.

ease the pressure/burden

This should ease the burden on busy teachers.

measures to ease congestion in the city

Her breathing had eased.

2 . MAKE EASIER [transitive] to make a process happen more easily SYN smooth :

The agreement will ease the way for other countries to join the EU.

3 . MOVE [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] to move yourself or something slowly and carefully into another place or position:

She eased her shoes off.

ease yourself into/through etc something

He eased himself into a chair.

ease your way past/through etc something

He eased his way through the crowd.

Jean eased back on the pillows and relaxed.

4 . ease your grip to hold something less tightly

5 . ease sb’s mind to make someone feel less worried about something:

It would ease my mind to know you had arrived safely.

ease (somebody) into something phrasal verb

if you ease yourself or someone else into a new job etc, you start doing it gradually or help them to start:

After the baby, she eased herself back into work.

ease off phrasal verb

1 . if something, especially something that you do not like, eases off, it improves or gets less SYN ease up :

The rain had eased off a bit.

Why don’t you wait until the traffic eases off a little?

2 . ease off on somebody to stop being unpleasant to someone or asking so much from them

ease out phrasal verb

1 . if a vehicle eases out, it slowly moves forward into the traffic

2 . ease somebody ↔ out to make someone leave a job, a position of authority etc, in a way that makes it seem as if they have chosen to leave

ease up phrasal verb

1 . to work less hard or do something with less energy than before:

Just relax and ease up a little.

2 . to start doing something less

ease up on

You should ease up on the whisky.

3 . to improve or get less SYN ease off :

The snow was easing up.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.