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Gentle   /dʒˈɛntəl/  /dʒˈɛnəl/   Listen
adjective
Gentle  adj.  (compar. gentler; superl. gentlest)  
1.
Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble. "British society is divided into nobility, gentry, and yeomanry, and families are either noble, gentle, or simple." "The studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time."
2.
Quiet and refined in manners; not rough, harsh, or stern; mild; meek; bland; amiable; tender; as, a gentle nature, temper, or disposition; a gentle manner; a gentle address; a gentle voice.
3.
A compellative of respect, consideration, or conciliation; as, gentle reader. "Gentle sirs." "Gentle Jew." "Gentle servant."
4.
Not wild, turbulent, or refractory; quiet and docile; tame; peaceable; as, a gentle horse.
5.
Soft; not violent or rough; not strong, loud, or disturbing; easy; soothing; pacific; as, a gentle touch; a gentle gallop. "Gentle music." "O sleep! it is a gentle thing."
The gentle craft, the art or trade of shoemaking.
Synonyms: Mild; meek; placid; dovelike; quiet; peaceful; pacific; bland; soft; tame; tractable; docile. Gentle, Tame, Mild, Meek. Gentle describes the natural disposition; tame, that which is subdued by training; mild implies a temper which is, by nature, not easily provoked; meek, a spirit which has been schooled to mildness by discipline or suffering. The lamb is gentle; the domestic fowl is tame; John, the Apostle, was mild; Moses was meek.



noun
Gentle  n.  
1.
One well born; a gentleman. (Obs.) "Gentles, methinks you frown."
2.
A trained falcon. See Falcon-gentil.
3.
(Zool.) A dipterous larva used as fish bait.



verb
Gentle  v. t.  
1.
To make genteel; to raise from the vulgar; to ennoble. (Obs.)
2.
To make smooth, cozy, or agreeable. (R. or Poet.) "To gentle life's descent, We shut our eyes, and think it is a plain."
3.
To make kind and docile, as a horse. (Colloq.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Gentle" Quotes from Famous Books



... students of the different colleges, or by clubs. They are drawn by horses, like canal-boats; and a horse being attached to our own barge, he trotted off at a reasonable pace, and we slipped through the water behind him, with a gentle and pleasant motion, which, save for the constant vicissitude of cultivated scenery, was like no motion at all. It was life without the trouble of living; nothing was ever more quietly agreeable. In this happy state of mind and body we gazed at Christ-Church meadows, as we passed, and ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 8, No. 48, October, 1861 • Various

... yet, being in the shape and form of a man, he could not look upon his man's face without abhorrence, or hear words uttered from his man's lips without loathing; and this singly honest man was forced to depart, because he was a man, and because, with a heart more gentle and compassionate than is usual to man, he bore man's detested form and ...
— Books for Children - The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Vol. 3 • Charles and Mary Lamb

... good teams of horses, the appearance of domestics active, industrious, and apparently contented with their lot; in a word, an air of liberal though sluttish plenty indicated the wealthy fanner. The situation of the house above the river formed a gentle declivity, which relieved the inhabitants of the nuisances that might otherwise have stagnated around it. At a little distance was the whole band of children playing and building houses with peats around a huge doddered oak-tree, which was called Charlie's Bush, from some tradition ...
— Guy Mannering, or The Astrologer, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott

... He was sure some one was talking—and very near him, too, it was. But he was not frightened, for he had not yet learned how to be; so he sat up and hearkened. At last the voice, which, though quite gentle, sounded a little angry, appeared to come from the back of the bed. He crept nearer to it, and laid his ear against the wall. Then he heard nothing but the wind, which sounded very loud indeed. The moment, however, that he moved his head from the wall, he heard ...
— At the Back of the North Wind • George MacDonald

... Meanwhile, gentle reader, during the two years which I purpose devoting to solitude and study, I shall not be so occupied with my fields and folios, as to render me uncourteous to thee. If ever thou hast known me in the city, I give thee a hearty invitation ...
— Pelham, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton


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