n.

1. The condition of being comfortable or relieved.

4. Freedom from financial difficulty; affluence: a life of luxury and ease.

5. A state of rest, relaxation, or leisure: He took his ease by the pond.

v.tr.

1. To free from pain, worry, or agitation: eased his conscience by returning the stolen money.

3. To give respite from: eased the staff's burden by hiring more people.

4. To slacken the strain, pressure, or tension of; loosen: ease off a cable.

5. To reduce the difficulty or trouble of: eased the entrance requirements.

6. To move or maneuver slowly and carefully: eased the car into a narrow space; eased the director out of office.

v.intr.

1. To lessen, as in discomfort, pressure, or stress: pain that never eased.

2. To move or proceed with little effort: eased through life doing as little as possible.

at ease

1. In a relaxed position, especially standing silently at rest with the right foot stationary: put the soldiers at ease while waiting for inspection.

2. Used as a command for troops to assume a relaxed position.

n

1. freedom from discomfort, worry, or anxiety

2. lack of difficulty, labour, or awkwardness; facility

3. rest, leisure, or relaxation

4. freedom from poverty or financial embarrassment; affluence: a life of ease.

5. lack of restraint, embarrassment, or stiffness: his ease of manner disarmed us.

6. (Military) (of a standing soldier, etc) in a relaxed position with the feet apart and hands linked behind the back

7. (Military) a command to adopt such a position

8. in a relaxed attitude or frame of mind

vb

9. to make or become less burdensome

10. (tr) to relieve (a person) of worry or care; comfort

11. (tr) to make comfortable or give rest to

12. (tr) to make less difficult; facilitate

13. to move or cause to move into, out of, etc, with careful manipulation: to ease a car into a narrow space.

14. (when: intr, often foll by off or up) to lessen or cause to lessen in severity, pressure, tension, or strain; slacken, loosen, or abate

15. ease oneself ease nature archaic euphemistic to urinate or defecate

16. (Nautical Terms) ease the helm nautical to relieve the pressure on the rudder of a vessel, esp by bringing the bow into the wind

11.

a. to bring (the helm or rudder of a vessel) slowly amidships.

b. to bring the head of (a vessel) into the wind.

1. (I meet men in the city) as easily as a finger stuck in water comes up wet —Marge Piercy
2. As easily as a hot knife cuts through butter —Ben Ames Williams

   In Williams’ novel, Leave Her to Heaven, the simile describes the ease with which flood waters penetrate a barrier. The simile has also cropped up in everyday language to show something slipping by or through easily —as a legal decision past a judge.

3. As hard to get as a haircut —Raymond Chandler
4. (Returned to normality) as smoothly as a ski jumper landing —John Braine
5. Did so without effort or exertion, like a chess champion playing a routine game —Natascha Wodin
6. Easy as a smile —Anon
7. Easy as a snake crawling over a stick —Joseph Conrad
8. Easy as breathing in and breathing out —Louise Erdrich
9. Easy as climbing a fallen tree —Danish proverb
10. Easy as drawing a child’s first tooth —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
11. Easy as falling out of a canoe —Anon
12. Easy as finding fault in someone else —Anon
13. Easy as for a cat to have twins —American colloquialism, attributed to New England
14. Easy as opening a letter —Anon
15. Easy as peeling the skin off a banana —Anon
16. Easy as pie —Anon
17. Easy as pointing a finger —Slogan, Colt Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co.
18. Easy as pouring a glass of water —Anon
19. Easy as riding down smoothly paved road —Anon
20. Easy as rolling off a log —Mark Twain
21. Easy as running up charge account bills —Anon
22. Easy as scrambling an egg —Anon
23. Easy as shooting down a fish in a barrel —Anon
24. Easy as spitting —Anton Chekhov
25. Easy as stealing pennies from a blind man’s can —Donald Seaman
26. Easy as to set dogs on sheep —William Shakespeare
27. Easy as turning on the TV set —Anon
28. Easy as turning the page in a book —Anon
29. Easy … like sliding into sin —Harry Prince
30. An easy thing to do, light and easy like falling in a dream —George Garrett
31. Go through … like so much dishwater —McKinlay Kantor
32. Stepped into his position as easily as a pair of trousers —Anon
33. Stepped into manhood, as one steps over a doorsill —Mark Twain
34. Went in … as easily as paper into a vacuum cleaner —Derek Lambert
35. Would happen as the turning of a light bulb on or off —John McGahern