Word Finder - softening

definition

To make something soft or softer.

example

Soften the butter before beating in the sugar.

definition

To undermine the morale of someone (often soften up).

example

Before the invasion, we softened up the enemy with the artillery.

definition

To make less harsh

example

Having second thoughts, I softened my criticism.

definition

To become soft or softer

example

The butter softened as it warmed up.

He glanced at her, his face softening.

Instead of the horror Deidre expected to see, Daniela's face warmed even more, softening the skin around her eyes.

She dropped her things by the wardrobe and crossed to it, softening.

He truly lost himself in music and the hard mask of self-control gave way to softening features.

Her face had already begun softening, and the warm sienna reclaimed her eyes.

Stay a good girl, he said, softening.

Alex glanced at Carmen, his gaze softening when it met hers.

In 1904-1905 the city built on the Scioto river a concrete storage dam, having a capacity of 5,000,000,000 gallons, and in 1908 it completed the construction of enormous works for filtering and softening the water-supply, and of works for purifying the flow of sewage - the two costing nearly $5,000,000.

The 10th century is the time of the settlement of the Northmen in Gaul, and of the change in religion and language of which the softening of the name is the outward sign.

On returning from Tilsit to Paris he relieved Talleyrand of the ministry of foreign affairs, softening the fall by creating him a grand dignitary of the empire.

The spelter used must therefore be of a good grade, and the lead is usually first refined in a reverberatory furnace (the softening furnace).

In the reverberatory furnace, similar to the one used in softening, the lead is brought to a brightred heat and air allowed to have free access.

Some experiments were next undertaken with the view of ascertaining how far magnetic changes of length in iron were dependent upon the hardness of the metal, and the unexpected result was arrived at that softening produces the same effect as tensile stress; it depresses the elongation curve, diminishing the maximum extension, and reducing the " critical value " of the magnetizing force.

The lower end of the cylinder is opened, in the case of small and thin cylinders, by the blower holding his thumb over the mouthpiece of the pipe and simultaneously warming the end of the cylinder in the furnace, the expansion of the imprisoned air and the softening of the glass causing the end of the cylinder to burst open.

His character, admirable as it is for firmness, for intensity, for inexorable will, for iron devotion to what he thought the service of mankind, yet offers few of those softening qualities that make us love good men and pity bad ones.

The most important class of coals is that generally known as bituminous, from their property of softening or undergoing an apparent fusion when heated to a temperature far below that at which actual combustion takes place.

The former class undergo an incipient fusion or softening when heated, so that the fragments coalesce and yield a compact coke, while the latter (also called free-burning) preserve their form, producing a coke which is only serviceable when made from large pieces of coal, the smaller pieces being incoherent and of no value.

Over-exertion, however, brought on softening of the brain, which compelled him to resign office on the 24th of March 1863, and ultimately resulted in his death on the 1st of August 1866.

The penitent and God-fearing Jews of the post-exilic age needed some softening appendix, and this the editor provided.

Hence steel which has been heated very highly, whether for welding, or for greatly softening it so that it can be rolled to the desired shape with but little expenditure of power, ought later to be refined, either by reheating it from below Are to slightly above Ac 3 or by rolling it after it has cooled to a relatively low temperature, i.e.

Special grease is then rubbed in and the skin placed in a machine which softly and continuously beats in the softening mixture, after which it is put into a slowly revolving drum, fitted with wooden paddles, partly filled with various kinds of fine hard sawdust according to the nature of the furs dealt with.

For use with wood which is exposed to moisture, as in the case of wooden cisterns, a mixture may be made of 4 parts of linseed oil boiled with litharge, and 8 parts of melted glue; other strong cements for the same purpose are prepared by softening gelatine in cold water and dissolving it by heat in linseed oil, or by mixing glue with one-fourth of its weight of turpentine, or with a little bichromate of potash.

In 1858 he resigned his seat in the house, owing to incipient softening of the brain, of which he died on the 29th of August 1861.

The length of his literary career was now softening old antipathies, and he was the object of general respect.

A large literature is produced, reconciling science and theology by softening and compromising and adapting; a procedure in accordance with general historical development, for men do not love sharp antagonisms, nor are they prepared to carry principles to their logical conclusions.

The heat produced by friction, when moderate in amount, is useful in softening and liquefying thick unguents; but when excessive it is prejudicial, by decomposing the unguents, and sometimes even by softening the metal of the bearings, and raising their temperature so high as to set fire to neighboring combustible matters.

The softening effect of age is due to the deposition of a part of the tartar together with a part of the tannin and some of the colouring matter.

Jules Breton has coloured the days of toil with sentiment; others, like Courbet, whose eccentric "Funeral at Ornans" attracted more notice at the Salon of 1850 than Millet's "Sowers and Binders," have treated similar subjects as a vehicle for protest against social misery; Millet alone, a peasant and a miserable one himself, saw true, neither softening nor exaggerating what he saw.

The streaks are sometimes partly softened or crushed by means of a steam hammer during the process of opening the bale, then taken to the "strikers-up" where the different varieties are selected and hung on pins, and then taken to the jute softening machine.

The fibre is delivered by what is called the delivery cloth, and the batcher usually selects small streaks of about i 2 lb to 2 lb weight each and passes them on to the attendant or feeder of the softening machine.

These small streaks are now laid as regularly as possible upon the feed-cloth of the softening machine, a general view of which is shown in fig.

The apparatus for this function is placed immediately over the II th and 12th rollers of the softening machine and an idea of its construction may be gathered from fig.

The negative evidence afforded in the account of his establishment suggests the inference that, like Lucilius and Horace, Juvenal had no personal experience of either the cares or the softening influence of family life.

Accents on vowels lengthen them; on d and t they are softening marks.

In other words he retained his reason until in his 74th year he was struck down by a new disease in the form of a localized left-sided apoplexy or cerebral softening.

Where it is unavoidable to work with coal softening in the fire, Lurmann's producer may be employed, which is shown in fig..

In his treatise, Libri sententiarum, mainly based on Augustinian doctrine, we find a distinct softening of the antithesis between nature and grace and an anticipation of the union of Aristotelian and Christian thought, which was initiated by Albert the Great and completed by Thomas Aquinas.

Sex had no effect in softening the prevalent style of oratory, but the government thought it better to take no notice.

And yet, maybe he was softening.

Soils with densely packed grains are strain softening because disturbance during sharing causes the grains to move apart causing dilation.

Who among us does not miss the gentle ministrations, the softening influences, the humble piety of Lucretia Borgia?

In Perisher there is a fair coverage of softening spring snow, with the weather turning murky as rain and thunderstorms are anticipated.

When surface meltwater refreezes internally, it releases huge amounts of latent heat thus softening the ice column.

If it contains a few parts of carbon per thousand, the annealing process, instead of softening the metal, gives it a "temper," meaning a higher degree of hardness and elasticity (see below).

The general conception of a resin is a noncrystalline body, insoluble in water, mostly soluble in alcohol, essential oils, ether and hot fatty oils, softening and melting under the influence of heat, not capable of sublimation, and burning with a bright but smoky flame.

She understood those words to mean that he had suddenly softened and that this softening and gentleness were signs of approaching death.

The problem they have is softening up public opinion.

This causes problems such as back pain, muscle wasting, osteoporosis (softening of the bones) and depression.

There is an approximately 3x3 inch patch in the training pants which contains Sorbitol, a sugar-like material that is used as a sweetener in gum or as a skin softening emollient.

Finally, decide which softening agent you want to use.