Part 3578

<h1>Easy</h1> <Xpage=467>

<hw>Eas"y</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>Compar.</tt> <er>Easier</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>superl.</tt> <er>Easiest</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OF. <ets>aisi\'82</ets>, F. <ets>ais\'82</ets>, prop. p. p. of OF. <ets>aisier</ets>. See <er>Ease</er>, <tt>v. t.</tt>]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>At ease; free from pain, trouble, or constraint; as: <sd>(a)</sd> Free from pain, distress, toil, exertion, and the like; quiet; <as>as, the patient is <ex>easy</ex></as>. <sd>(b)</sd> Free from care, responsibility, discontent, and the like; not anxious; tranquil; <as>as, an <ex>easy</ex> mind</as>. <sd>(c)</sd> Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth; <as>as, <ex>easy</ex> manners; an <ex>easy</ex> style.</as></def> "The <i>easy</i> vigor of a line.</def>"

<i>Pope.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Not causing, or attended with, pain or disquiet, or much exertion; affording ease or rest; <as>as, an <ex>easy</ex> carriage; a ship having an <ex>easy</ex> motion; <ex>easy</ex> movements, as in dancing</as>.</def> "<i>Easy</i> ways to die."

<i>Shak.</i>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Not difficult; requiring little labor or effort; slight; inconsiderable; <as>as, an <ex>easy</ex> task; an <ex>easy</ex> victory.</as></def>

<blockquote>It were an <b>easy</b> leap. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Causing ease; giving freedom from care or labor; furnishing comfort; commodious; <as>as, <ex>easy</ex> circumstances; an <ex>easy</ex> chair or cushion.</as></def>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; complying; ready.</def>

<blockquote>He gained their <b>easy</b> hearts. <i>Dryden.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>He is too tyrannical to be an <b>easy</b> monarch. <i>Sir W. Scott.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>Moderate; sparing; frugal.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Chaucer.</i>

<p><b>7.</b> <fld>(Com.)</fld> <def>Not straitened as to money matters; <as>as, the market is <ex>easy</ex></as>; -- opposed to <i>tight</i>.</def>

<cs><col>Honors are easy</col> <fld>(Card Playing)</fld>, <cd>said when each side has an equal number of honors, in which case they are not counted as points.</cd></cs>

<syn>Syn. -- Quiet; comfortable; manageable; tranquil; calm; facile; unconcerned.</syn>

<h1>Easy-chair</h1> <Xpage=467>

<hw>Eas"y-chair`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>An armichair for ease or repose.</def> "Laugh . . . in Rabelais' <i>easy-chair</i>."

<i>Pope.</i>

<h1>Easy-going</h1> <Xpage=467>

<hw>Eas"y-go`ing</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Moving easily; hence, mild-tempered; ease-loving; inactive.</def>

<h1>Eat</h1> <Xpage=467>

<hw>Eat</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp.</tt> <er>Ate</er> <tt>(?; 277)</tt>, <mark>Obsolescent & Colloq</mark>. <er>Eat</er> <tt>(<?/)</tt>; <tt>p. p.</tt> <er>Eaten</er> <tt>(?)</tt>, <mark>Obs. or Colloq</mark>. <er>Eat</er> (<?/); <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Eating</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OE. <ets>eten</ets>, AS. <ets>etan</ets>; akin to OS. <ets>etan</ets>, OFries. <ets>eta</ets>, D. <ets>eten</ets>, OHG. <ets>ezzan</ets>, G. <ets>essen</ets>, Icel. <ets>eta</ets>, Sw. <ets>\'84ta</ets>, Dan. <ets>\'91de</ets>, Goth. <ets>itan</ets>, Ir. & Gael. <ets>ith</ets>, W. <ets>ysu</ets>, L. <ets>edere</ets>, Gr. <?/, Skr. <ets>ad</ets>. <?/<?/. Cf. <er>Etch</er>, <er>Fret</er> to rub, <er>Edible</er>.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially of food not liquid; <as>as, to <ex>eat</ex> bread</as>.</def> "To <i>eat</i> grass as oxen."

<i>Dan. iv. 25.</i>

<blockquote>They . . . <b>ate</b> the sacrifices of the dead. <i>Ps. cvi. 28.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>The lean . . . did <b>eat</b> up the first seven fat kine. <i>Gen. xli. 20.</i></blockquote>