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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



... artless man, of simple understanding, fearing God above all things, then robbers, next to that of nobles, and more than all, a disturbance. Although if he had two hands, he never did more than one thing at a time. His voice was as gentle as that of a bridegroom before marriage. Although the clergy, the military, and others gave him no reputation for knowledge, he knew well his mother's Latin, and spoke it correctly without waiting to be asked. Latterly the Parisians had taught him to walk uprightly, not to beat the bush ...
— Droll Stories, Volume 3 • Honore de Balzac

... was a cruel-hearted man, and in his anger he could have struck him. But now, after the affair with Willie Logan and the talk about Uncle Matthew, and remembering, too, that Uncle William was always very gentle with Uncle Matthew, even though his words were sometimes rough, he felt that his heart had ample room inside it for this rough, bearded man who made so few demands on the affection of his family, ...
— The Foolish Lovers • St. John G. Ervine

... Margaret herself installed as nurse, for as Dr. Forbes had feared, he had found it impossible to obtain anyone else. Margaret had a natural gift for nursing, and she had had a good deal of experience in sick rooms. She was skilful, gentle and composed, and Dr. Forbes nodded his head with ...
— Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1907 to 1908 • Lucy Maud Montgomery

... character. He was now in his third year of residence, had won the pair-oar race, and had pulled seven in the great yearly match with Cambridge, and by constant hard work had managed to carry the St. Ambrose boat up to the fifth place on the river. He will be introduced to you, gentle reader, when the proper time comes; at present, we are only concerned with a bird's-eye view of the college, that you may feel more or less at home in it. The boating set was not so separate or marked as the reading set, melting on one side into, and keeping up more or less connexion with, ...
— Tom Brown at Oxford • Thomas Hughes

... close-hauled, and render her what is termed weatherly. On the present occasion, there could scarcely be said to be anything deserving the name of wind, though Ghita felt her cheek, which was warmed with the rich blood of her country, fanned by an air so gentle that occasionally it blew aside tresses that seemed to vie with the floss silk of her native land. Had the natural ringlets been less light, however, so gentle a respiration of the sea air could scarcely have disturbed them. But the lugger had her lightest ...
— The Wing-and-Wing - Le Feu-Follet • J. Fenimore Cooper


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