soften
verbattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈsɒfən//
- United States//ˈsɑfən//
- Canada//ˈsɒfən//
- Australia//ˈsɔfən//
- //ˈsɔfən//
To make something soft or softer.
verb
- 1
To make something soft or softer.
Soften the butter before beating in the sugar.
- 2
To undermine the morale of someone (often soften up).
Before the invasion, we softened up the enemy with the artillery.
- 3
To make less harsh.
Having second thoughts, I softened my criticism.
I have recently reclad the south-west facing side of my single-storey cottage […]. I now want to plant some climbers of more manageable proportions to soften the building.
- 4
To become soft or softer.
The butter softened as it warmed up.
- 5
To become or make (a consonant) more lenis, to lenite.
- 6
To palatalize.
Etymology
From Middle English softenen, softnen, equivalent to soft + -en.
Forms
- past tense
- softened
- past participle
- softened
- present participle
- softening
- third person singular
- softens
Sofia · A female given name, variant of Sophia.soft · Easily giving way under pressure.softball · A game similar to baseball but played with a larger and…
soften · To make something soft or softer.
softly · In a soft manner; gently.software · Encoded computer instructions, usually modifiable (unless…soggy · Soaked with moisture or other liquid.