Part 540

Soft were my numbers; who could take offense?

Pope.

6. Easily yielding; susceptible to influence; flexible; gentle; kind.

I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's; Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine.

Shak.

The meek or soft shall inherit the earth.

Tyndale.

7. Expressing gentleness, tenderness, or the like; mild; conciliatory; courteous; kind; as, soft eyes.

A soft answer turneth away wrath.

Prov. xv. 1.

A face with gladness overspread, Soft smiles, by human kindness bred.

Wordsworth.

8. Effeminate; not courageous or manly, weak.

A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft, and wandering.

Jer. Taylor.

9. Gentle in action or motion; easy.

On her soft axle, white she paces even, And bears thee soft with the smooth air along.

Milton.

10. Weak in character; impressible.

The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's.

Glanvill.

11. Somewhat weak in intellect. [Colloq.]

He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.

Burton.

12. Quiet; undisturbed; paceful; as, soft slumbers.

13. Having, or consisting of, a gentle curve or curves; not angular or abrupt; as, soft outlines.

14. Not tinged with mineral salts; adapted to decompose soap; as, soft water is the best for washing.

15. (Phonetics) (a) Applied to a palatal, a sibilant, or a dental consonant (as g in gem, c in cent, etc.) as distinguished from a guttural mute (as g in go, c in cone, etc.); -- opposed to hard. (b) Belonging to the class of sonant elements as distinguished from the surd, and considered as involving less force in utterance; as, b, d, g, z, v, etc., in contrast with p, t, k, s, f, etc.