Soft \Soft\ (s[o^]ft; 115), a. [Compar. Softer
(s[o^]ft"[~e]r); superl. Softest.] [OE. softe, AS.
s[=o]fte, properly adv. of s[=e]fte, adj.; akin to OS.
s[=a]fto, adv., D. zacht, OHG. samfto, adv., semfti, adj., G.
sanft, LG. sacht; of uncertain origin.]
1. Easily yielding to pressure; easily impressed, molded, or
cut; not firm in resisting; impressible; yielding; also,
malleable; -- opposed to hard; as, a soft bed; a soft
peach; soft earth; soft wood or metal.
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2. Not rough, rugged, or harsh to the touch; smooth;
delicate; fine; as, soft silk; a soft skin.
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They that wear soft clothing are in king's houses.
--Matt. xi. 8.
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3. Hence, agreeable to feel, taste, or inhale; not irritating
to the tissues; as, a soft liniment; soft wines. "The
soft, delicious air." --Milton.
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4. Not harsh or offensive to the sight; not glaring; pleasing
to the eye; not exciting by intensity of color or violent
contrast; as, soft hues or tints.
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The sun, shining upon the upper part of the clouds .
. . made the softest lights imaginable. --Sir T.
Browne.
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5. Not harsh or rough in sound; gentle and pleasing to the
ear; flowing; as, soft whispers of music.
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Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low, -- an excellent thing in woman.
--Shak.
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Soft were my numbers; who could take offense?
--Pope.
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6. Easily yielding; susceptible to influence; flexible;
gentle; kind.
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I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's;
Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine. --Shak.
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The meek or soft shall inherit the earth. --Tyndale.
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7. Expressing gentleness, tenderness, or the like; mild;
conciliatory; courteous; kind; as, soft eyes.
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A soft answer turneth away wrath. --Prov. xv. 1.
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A face with gladness overspread,
Soft smiles, by human kindness bred. --Wordsworth.
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8. Effeminate; not courageous or manly, weak.
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A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution
of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft,
and wandering. --Jer. Taylor.
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9. Gentle in action or motion; easy.
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On her soft axle, white she paces even,
And bears thee soft with the smooth air along.
--Milton.
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10. Weak in character; impressible.
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The deceiver soon found this soft place of Adam's.
--Glanvill.
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11. Somewhat weak in intellect. [Colloq.]
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He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as
were foolish quite mad. --Burton.
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12. Quiet; undisturbed; paceful; as, soft slumbers.
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13. Having, or consisting of, a gentle curve or curves; not
angular or abrupt; as, soft outlines.
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14. Not tinged with mineral salts; adapted to decompose soap;
as, soft water is the best for washing.
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15. (Phonetics)
(a) Applied to a palatal, a sibilant, or a dental
consonant (as g in gem, c in cent, etc.) as
distinguished from a guttural mute (as g in go, c in
cone, etc.); -- opposed to hard.
(b) Belonging to the class of sonant elements as
distinguished from the surd, and considered as
involving less force in utterance; as, b, d, g, z, v,
etc., in contrast with p, t, k, s, f, etc.
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Soft clam (Zool.), the common or long clam (Mya
arenaria). See Mya.
Soft coal, bituminous coal, as distinguished from
anthracite, or hard, coal.
Soft crab (Zool.), any crab which has recently shed its
shell.
Soft dorsal (Zool.), the posterior part of the dorsal fin
of fishes when supported by soft rays.
Soft grass. (Bot.) See Velvet grass.
Soft money, paper money, as distinguished from coin, or
hard money. [Colloq. U.S.]
Soft mute. (Phonetics) See Media.
Soft palate. See the Note under Palate.
Soft ray (Zool.), a fin ray which is articulated and
usually branched.
Soft soap. See under Soap.
Soft-tack, leavened bread, as distinguished from
hard-tack, or ship bread.
Soft tortoise (Zool.), any river tortoise of the genus
Trionyx. See Trionyx.
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Long \Long\, a. [Compar. Longer; superl. Longest.] [AS.
long, lang; akin to OS, OFries., D., & G. lang, Icel. langr,
Sw. l[*a]ng, Dan. lang, Goth. laggs, L. longus. [root]125.
Cf. Length, Ling a fish, Linger, Lunge, Purloin.]
1. Drawn out in a line, or in the direction of length;
protracted; extended; as, a long line; -- opposed to
short, and distinguished from broad or wide.
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2. Drawn out or extended in time; continued through a
considerable tine, or to a great length; as, a long series
of events; a long debate; a long drama; a long history; a
long book.
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3. Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration;
lingering; as, long hours of watching.
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4. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in
time; far away.
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The we may us reserve both fresh and strong
Against the tournament, which is not long.
--Spenser.
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5. Having a length of the specified measure; of a specified
length; as, a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that
is, extended to the measure of a mile, etc.
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6. Far-reaching; extensive. " Long views." --Burke.
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7. (Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in
utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See Short,
a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 22, 30.
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8. (Finance & Com.) Having a supply of stocks or goods;
prepared for, or depending for a profit upon, advance in
prices; as, long of cotton. Hence, the phrases: to be, or
go, long of the market, to be on the long side of the
market, to hold products or securities for a rise in
price, esp. when bought on a margin. Contrasted to
short.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Note: Long is used as a prefix in a large number of compound
adjectives which are mostly of obvious meaning; as,
long-armed, long-beaked, long-haired, long-horned,
long-necked, long-sleeved, long-tailed, long- worded,
etc.
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In the long run, in the whole course of things taken
together; in the ultimate result; eventually.
Long clam (Zool.), the common clam (Mya arenaria) of the
Northern United States and Canada; -- called also
soft-shell clam and long-neck clam. See Mya.
Long cloth, a kind of cotton cloth of superior quality.
Long clothes, clothes worn by a young infant, extending
below the feet.
Long division. (Math.) See Division.
Long dozen, one more than a dozen; thirteen.
Long home, the grave.
Long measure, Long meter. See under Measure, Meter.
Long Parliament (Eng. Hist.), the Parliament which
assembled Nov. 3, 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell,
April 20, 1653.
Long price, the full retail price.
Long purple (Bot.), a plant with purple flowers, supposed
to be the Orchis mascula. --Dr. Prior.
Long suit
(a) (Whist), a suit of which one holds originally more
than three cards. --R. A. Proctor.
(b) One's most important resource or source of strength;
as, as an entertainer, her voice was her long suit.
Long tom.
(a) A pivot gun of great length and range, on the dock of
a vessel.
(b) A long trough for washing auriferous earth. [Western
U.S.]
(c) (Zool.) The long-tailed titmouse.
Long wall (Coal Mining), a working in which the whole seam
is removed and the roof allowed to fall in, as the work
progresses, except where passages are needed.
Of long, a long time. [Obs.] --Fairfax.
To be long of the market, or To go long of the market,
To be on the long side of the market, etc. (Stock
Exchange), to hold stock for a rise in price, or to have a
contract under which one can demand stock on or before a
certain day at a stipulated price; -- opposed to short
in such phrases as, to be short of stock, to sell short,
etc. [Cant] See Short.
To have a long head, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind.
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Clam \Clam\ (kl[a^]m), n. [Cf. Clamp, Clam, v. t.,
Clammy.]
1. (Zool.) A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those
that are edible; as, the long clam (Mya arenaria), the
quahog or round clam (Venus mercenaria), the sea clam or
hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species of the
United States. The name is said to have been given
originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian
bivalve.
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You shall scarce find any bay or shallow shore, or
cove of sand, where you may not take many clampes,
or lobsters, or both, at your pleasure. --Capt. John
Smith (1616).
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Clams, or clamps, is a shellfish not much unlike a
cockle; it lieth under the sand. --Wood (1634).
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2. (Ship Carp.) Strong pinchers or forceps.
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3. pl. (Mech.) A kind of vise, usually of wood.
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Blood clam. See under Blood.
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