ease

Noun

freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort
- "he rose through the ranks with apparent ease"
- "they put it into containers for ease of transportation"
a freedom from financial difficulty that promotes a comfortable state
- "a life of luxury and ease"
the condition of being comfortable or relieved (especially after being relieved of distress)
- "getting it off his conscience gave him some ease"
freedom from constraint or embarrassment
- "I am never at ease with strangers"
freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility)
Lack of difficulty; the ability to do something easily.
Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth.
Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference.
Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
Freedom from effort; leisure, rest.
Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence.
Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness
Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace.
Relief, an end to discomfort
Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance.
Relief, an end to discomfort
Release from intestinal discomfort: defecation.
Relief, an end to discomfort
Release from constraint, obligation, or a constrained position.
Relief, an end to discomfort
Additional space provided to allow greater movement.
A convenience; a luxury.
A relief; an easement.

Verb

Verb Forms: eased, easing, eases

To make less difficult, burdensome, or painful; to relieve.
move gently or carefully
- "He eased himself into the chair"
lessen pain or discomfort; alleviate
- "ease the pain in your legs"
make easier
lessen the intensity of or calm
- "The news eased my conscience"
To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc.
To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain).
To give respite to (someone).
To loosen or slacken the tension on a line.
To reduce the difficulty of (something).
To move (something) slowly and carefully.
To lessen in intensity.
To proceed with little effort.
To take something from (a person), especially by robbery.

Examples

Add some ease to the waist measurement.
At ease, soldier!
He eased his conscience by confessing.
He eased the cork from the bottle.
He hoped playing EASE would calm the tense Scrabble atmosphere.
He loosened his shoe to ease the pain.
He played the ukelele with ease.
Her young boy lifted a weight with ease too, as that one wasn't too heavy
His inheritance catapulted him into a life of ease.
His words of comfort eased his friend's pain and distress.
She dealt with the faculty with combined authority and ease.
She enjoyed the ease of living in a house where the servants did all the work.
Take one pill every 12 hours to provide ease from pain.
The car eased onto the motorway.
The ease of lifting the weight, despite lack of skill, came from her pure strength.
The ease with which she passed all the exams surprised her.
The pain eased overnight.
The pension set her mind at ease.
The provision of extra staff eased their workload.
We eased the boom vang, then lowered the sail.
We had to ease the entry requirements.
We took our ease on the patio.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English ese, eise, aise, from Anglo-Norman ese (“ease”), from Old French eise, aise (“elbow room; opportunity”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Apparently related to Provençal ais, Italian agio and asio, Sicilian aciu and Portuguese azo. Sometimes ascribed to Vulgar Latin *āsia or *āsium, possibly from Latin ānsa (“handle, haft”) or Frankish *ansiju (“handle, loophole, eyelet; cup-handle; arms akimbo, elbow room”), but more often derived from Vulgar Latin *adjace(m), from Latin adjacēns (“adjacent, neighbouring”), present participle of adjaceō (“lie next to, border on”), though the forms and senses are difficult to trace clearly.
Alternatively, possibly from a non-Latin source such as Germanic or Celtic on the basis of the conflicting forms which appear in various Romance languages. Compare Old English īeþe (“easy”), Gothic 𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐌹 (azēti, “ease; pleasure”), *𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐍃 (*azēts, “easy”), Breton eaz, ez (“easy”), Irish adhais (“easy; leisure”). See also eath.
The verb is from Middle English esen, ultimately of the same origin.

Synonyms

allay, alleviate, comfort, easiness, facilitate, informality, relaxation, relief, relieve, repose, rest, simpleness, simplicity, still, Mammon, abundance, affluence, alleviation, amenity, aplomb, assuage, big jobs, bowel movement, cack, call of nature, cheese, composure, consolation, crap, crapping, cruise, defecating, defecation, doing one's ease, doing one's easement, dump, dumping, ease, easement, facility, fortune, free time, give someone a break, hod, indolency, inexertion, lay off, leisure, lessen, liss, loosen, mitigation, motion, number two, opulence, peace, peace of mind, plenty, poise, poo, pooh, poop, purging, reduce, relax, release, respite, richdom, riches, salve, sangfroid, sharn, shit, shitting, simplify, slacken, solace, spraying, taking a shit, wealth

Antonyms

difficulty

Scrabble Score: 4

ease: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
ease: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
ease: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 4

ease: valid Words With Friends Word