Lexic.us

Definition of Supple

1. Adjective. Moving and bending with ease.

2. Verb. Make pliant and flexible. "These boots are not yet suppled by frequent use"

3. Adjective. (used of e.g. personality traits) readily adaptable. "A limber imagination"

4. Adjective. (used of persons' bodies) capable of moving or bending freely.

Definition of Supple

1. a. Pliant; flexible; easily bent; as, supple joints; supple fingers.

2. v. t. To make soft and pliant; to render flexible; as, to supple leather.

3. v. i. To become soft and pliant.

Definition of Supple

1. Adjective. pliant, easy to bend ¹

2. Adjective. lithe and agile when moving and bending ¹

3. Adjective. flexible and compliant ¹

4. Verb. To make or become supple. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Supple

1. pliant [v -PLED, -PLING, -PLES] - See also: pliant

Lexicographical Neighbors of Supple

supperhour suppering supperless suppers suppertime suppertimes supping supplant supplantation supplantations

supplanted supplanter supplanters supplanting supplants supple (current term) suppled supplejack supplejacks supplely

supplement supplementable supplemental supplemental restraint system supplemental restraint systems supplementals supplementarily supplementarity supplementary supplementary angles

Literary usage of Supple

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Journal by English Place-Name Society (1913)
"I leave and bequeath unto my dearly beloved wife Jane supple all my household goods, the shea and shea horses. Item, I leave and bequeath unto my servant ..."

2. A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1850)
"Also, to soften, to render lithe or supple. (5) To thicken. Kennett, MS. ... (2) supple ; limber ; pliant. South. It is not (6) Obsequious ; humble. North. ..."

3. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1891)
"The native supple-jack of Australia consists of varieties of the woody .... Call me not dear, Nor think with supple words to smooth the grossness Of my ..."

4. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1920)
"supple-JACK, the popular name given to various strong twining shrubs, for example, certain West Indian ... The supple-jacks of Australia are climbing, ..."

5. A Dictionary of Similes by Frank Jenners Wilstach (1916)
"supple as the neck of a swan. — IBID. supple as tobacco pouches. — BALZAC. ... supple as if they were on springs. — IBID. supple as the ..."

6. A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1901)
"It is the infin. mood used as a sb. — OF soper, to sup ( F. souper). — Low G. supen, Icel. supa, Swed. supa, to sup. See Sup. souple, supple, pliant. ..."

7. The British Essayists edited by Alexander Chalmers (1808)
"IK every party there are two sorts of men, the rigid and the supple. The rigid are an intractable race of mortals, who act upon principle ..."

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