Forms: 4 eysy, eyse, (heise), eyss, (Sc.) eiss, eese, ayse(n, 4–5 esy(n, 4–6 ese(n, 5– ease. [Prob. originally ad. OF. aaisier = It. adagiare, f. L. ad to, at + late L. *asiu-m EASE sb.1; but virtually f. the sb.]
1. trans. To give ease (physically) to; to render more comfortable, relieve from pain, etc.
1340. Ayenb., 82. Þo þet byeþ zuo wyse to loky þet body and to eysy and to delyty.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. liii. (1495), 635. Iuy hathe vertue of rypynge, of clensynge and of easynge.
a. 1400[?]. Chester Pl., II. (1847), 5. This woman … That esead me this hasse.
1413. Lydg., Pylgr. Sowle, IV. xxxii. (1483), 81. Oftimes these armes wil bleden to esen and comforten the hede.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Sam. xvi. 23. So was Saul refreszshed, & eased.
1588. J. Udall, Diotrephes (Arb.), 7. Though it grieue mee to thinke vpon it, yet it easeth my stomacke to tell it.
1809. Med. Jrnl., XXI. 56. He drank it because it ‘broke the wind, and eased’ him.
1847. Emerson, Poems, Dæmonic Love. Even the fell Furies are appeased, The good applaud, the lost are eased.
† b. To refresh with repose or food; to entertain, accommodate hospitably. Also refl. Obs.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 96. Toward Wynchestre þam dight, his folk forto eyse. Ibid., 192. Seke were þer heised, heled þam of wound.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XIV. 387. Thai esyt thame, and maid gud cher.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1336. Theseus … festeth hem, and doth so gret labour To esen hem.
c. 1400. Ywaine & Gaw., 232. That night had i … mi stede esed of the best.
c. 1430. Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 2816. Anazaree … into a feire chambre him ladd, And eased him as a fre prisovn.
c. 1450. Lonelich, Grail, xlii. 543. [Se] that … they ben esed with the beste.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., lxi. 257 (Harl. MS.). His squier soȝte an host, for swiche a worthi knyȝt to be eside ynne.
1650. Row, Hist. Kirk (1842), 513. To harbour more souldiers nor convenientlie they can lodge and ease.
1695. Blackmore, Pr. Arth., VI. 457/171.
| Boldly fall on, before their Troops are eas’d, | |
| With Food and Rest, and with Recruits increas’d. |
c. † To ease nature (obs.), ease oneself: to relieve the bowels.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 143. Esyn, stercoriso, merdo, egero.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, vi. (1887), 47. Passage to dismisse excrements which easeth.
1611. Bible, Deut. xxiii. 13. It shall be when thou wilt ease thy selfe abroad.
1697. Potter, Antiq. Greece, I. xxvi. (1715), 145. Whosoever easeth Nature in Apollo’s Temple shall be Indicted, and Sentenc’d to Death.
1877. E. Peacock, N.-W. Linc. Gloss. (E. D. S.), Ease one’s self, to relieve the bowels.
2. To give ease of mind to; to comfort, disburden, relieve (the mind or heart). Also refl.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 13868 (Trin.). He esed him wiþ wordes hende.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1700. And with oure speche lat us ese oure herte.
1483. Vulg. abs Terentio, 6 b. I shall ese my mynde or hertt, animo meo morem gessero.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xi. 28. Come unto me … and I will ese you.
1631. Gouge, God’s Arrows, IV. viii. 385. Torment [may prove] an occasion of easing the mind.
1732. Pope, Ep. Bathurst, 365. Some scruple rose, but thus he eas’d his thought.
1807. Crabbe, Hall of Just., I. 29. Give me to ease my tortured mind.
1820. Keats, Hyperion, I. 112. And all those acts which Deity supreme Doth ease its heart of love in.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 294. The chancellor … could not well ease himself by cursing and swearing at Ormond.
† 3. To give relief to (any one suffering from oppression, or burdened with expenses or laborious duties) in wider sense; to benefit, help, assist. Also (rarely) absol. Obs. or arch.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron., Prol. 84. I made it not forto be praysed, Bot [þ]at þe lewed menne were aysed.
1389. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 8. So þat þe somme be nat so moche þt on may be esed as wel as an oþer.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 16. As though they would ease you with a sterope.
1587. Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 1541/2. They were afterwards eased by purueiors appointed for those and other purposes.
a. 1612. Donne, Βιαθανατος (1644), 100. If that rule … be … a good guide in all perplexities, it will ease very much.
1647. Protests Lords, I. 15. The kingdom eased … by the discharging of all unnecessary forces.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I. xlv. (1664), 203. He … gave unto each of them a horse to ease them upon the way.
1697. Phil. Trans., XIX. 746. Towards the latter end of Summer, they constantly eased the Country, and retired of themselves.
1761–2. Hume, Hist. Eng. (1806), IV. lxiii. 713. The declared intention of easing the dissenters.
4. To relieve, lighten, set free (a person, etc.) of († from) a burden, pain, anxiety or trouble.
1393. Gower, Conf., III. 354. Thou shalt be esed er thou go Of thilke unsely jolif wo.
c. 1460. Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714), 75–6. His Son, Kyng Roboham, would not ease them thereoff.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 13 b. In maner easynge them of theyr labour.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxxx. [lxxxi.] 6. He eased his shulder from the burthen.
1575–85. Abp. Sandys, Serm. (1841), 227. If this law were observed, the people should be eased of great expences, judges and justices of great travail.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Trav. Prague, Wks. III. 90. I am no sooner eased of him, but Gregory Gandergoose … catches me by the goll.
1663. Charleton, Chor. Gigant., 9. Nor, indeed, can I ease you of that wonder.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 485/110.
| Mean time the Pastor shears their hoary Beards; | |
| And eases of their Hair, the loaden Herds. |
1725. Pope, Odyss., XXI. 342. Ease your bosoms of a fear so vain.
1748. Anson, Voy., I. vi. 63. To ease the expedition of all unnecessary expence.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Brooke Farm, vi. 76. To ease my mind of all worldly concerns.
1862. Borrow, Wild Wales, I. iv. 39. A powerful priest … has more than once eased me of my sins.
b. in pass. with prep. omitted. poet. rare.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 739. [Adam & Eve] eas’d the putting off These troublesom disguises which wee wear, Strait side by side were laid.
c. humorously. To deprive, despoil of.
1600. Holland, Livy, XXXVII. xiii. 952. Having eased them [exutos] of a great part of their prey aforesaid, he chased themselves to the sea unto their ships.
1639. Massinger, Unnat. Combat, III. ii. F iij a–b (R.). He is sure To be eas’d of his office, though perhaps he bought it.
Mod. The light-fingered gentry eased them of their purses.
5. To lighten (a burden, etc.); to lessen (an inconvenience); to assuage, relieve (pain, distress).
a. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 950. And ech of ȝow eseth otheres sorwes smerte.
1586. J. Hooker, Girald. Irel., in Holinsh., II. 152/2. And for easing whereof he … in verie deed had also promised, and deuised how and by what means these charges might be answered.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., V. i. 35. Is there no play To ease the anguish of a torturing houre?.
1601. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw. (1603), 112. The hauen is not very large nor safe, but that inconuenience is somewhat eased by an artificiall key.
1633. G. Herbert, Temple, Crosse, vi. Ah my deare Father, ease my smart.
1701. Col. Rec. Pennsylv., II. 109. ’Tis resolved that it cannot be eased or remitted.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 355. The horse and the ass … contribute to ease his fatigues.
1834. Ht. Martineau, Moral, I. 3. Machinery, which easeth man’s labour.
1846. M’Culloch, Acc. Brit. Empire (1854), II. 133. This conduct is found conducive to easing the rates.
b. poet. To rest from, relax (labor).
1715–20. Pope, Iliad, X. 543. Eased in sleep the labours of the day.
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, lxiii. 36/50. The rest which easeth long toil.
6. To render easy, facilitate. rare.
1632. Massinger & Field, Fatal Dowry, II. i. My miracle is eased.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 430. [Storks] with mutual wing Easing thir flight.
1795. Anderson, Narr. Embassy China, in Morse, Amer. Geog. (1796), II. 516. But with this aid in easing the passage, the beginning of the ascent has a very fearful appearance.
7. To relax slightly (anything that is too tight); to move gently; to lift slightly; to shift a little, make to fit.
Mod. Tell the carpenter to ease the door a little.
† 8. intr. To cease, slacken. Obs.; cf. 10 b.
1583. Exec. for Justice (1675), 46. The remnant of the wicked flock … would ease from their … libellings.
1876. Robinson, Whitby Gloss. (E. D. S.), Ease,… to cease operations. ‘T’rains boun to ease a bit,’ to abate.
9. Naut. Often with away, down, off: to slacken (a rope, sail, etc.). To ease up: to come up handsomely with a tackle-fall. Also in forms of command, as Ease away! Ease off!: slacken out a rope or tackle. Ease her! (in a steam vessel): reduce the speed of the engine. Ease the helm!: put the helm down a few spokes in a head sea. (Adm. Smyth.)
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., v. 20. When the Shrouds are too stiffe, we say, ease them. Ibid. (1692), xvi. 76. To make her go more large, they say, Ease the Helm.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Larguer … l’Ecoute, to ease off the sheet.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple (1863), 101. Ease the ship with a spoke or two when she scuds.
1841. Punch, I. 35/1. The dirty lad below, whose exclamations of ‘Ease her!—stop her—one turn ahead!’ may one day be destined to give the word of command on the quarter-deck.
1859. Gen. P. Thompson, Audi Alt., II. xcv. 78. The present government might have stood its ground, if it had known how to ease off the rope handsomely.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 8. Luff and ease off the fore-sheet.
1881. Daily Tel., 5 July, 2/1. She ratched like a phantom to windward of us, and … eased away her sheets fore and aft.
1882. Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 132. The earings are eased down.
10. Ease off. a. trans. To get rid of with the view of giving or obtaining relief. b. intr. To become less burdensome.
1884. S. Dowell, Hist. Taxation, I. 177. It was an object with the king to ease off the business.
1884. Manchester Exam., 11 Oct., 4/1. To-morrow … the rates are likely to again ease off.
1887. Spectator, 30 July, 1012/1. Every effort to ease off the immediate pressure of the agrarian difficulty.
Hence Eased ppl. a.
1851. Ord. & Regul. R. Engineers, § 27. 124. The Arms to be carefully deposited in the Rack, with eased springs.
1877. M. Arnold, Heine’s Grave, Poems II. 257. Cool drinks, and an eased Posture and opium.
