| 释义 |
▪ I. easy, a. and adv.|ˈiːzɪ|
Forms: 3–4 aisie, -y, ? eise, 3–5 eese, -i, -y, 4–6 esee, -i(e, -y(e, (4 eisy, 5 eyse, ȝeesy, hesy), 6–8 easie, -ye, (9 dial. yezzy, yeasy) 4– easy.
[a. OF. aisié (mod. aisé), pa. pple. of OF. aiser, aisier to put at ease, whence ease v. The development of the Eng. senses has been affected by ease n.; the mod.Fr. uses of aise may also have had some influence.]
A. adj.
I. At ease; characterized by ease or freedom from pain or constraint.
†1. At liberty, having opportunity or means (to do something). Cf. ease n. 1.[Possibly eise in quot. 1225 may be a distinct word, a. Fr. aise at ease.] c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 47 Offredde loc for him . alse hie aisie was; gif hie was riche wimman . a lomb..gif hie was poure two duue briddes. a1225Ancr. R. 20 Et te one psalme ȝe schulen stonden, ȝif ȝe beoð eise, [v.r. aise] & et te oðer sitten.
2. Of conditions or state: Characterized by ease or rest; comfortable, luxurious, quiet.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 166 Worldly honour & aisy lif. 1483Cath. Angl. 117 Esy; ediosus, secundus. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 185 You vie Happiness in a thousand easy and sweet Diversions. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 123 In the full enjoyment of all things that can make their life easy, pleasant and happy. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 114 My Condition began now to be..much easier to my mind. 18..Mrs. Browning Little Mattie v, 'Twas a green and easy world As she took it.
3. Of persons: Free from physical pain or discomfort, or from outward annoyance or burden.
c1440Promp. Parv. 143 Esy, Quietus. 1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. ii. 741 The sick grow easie, and the feeble strong. a1791Wesley Wks. (1830) XII. 131 Mr. W's radical cure I shall hardly try, I am very easy, and that is enough. 1803Med. Jrnl. X. 256 Head easy, thirst and general indisposition continued. 1809Ibid. XXI. 487 After an opiate he became easier. 1902O. Wister Virginian iv. 44 ‘She's easier this morning, since the medicine.’ This was the engineer, whose sick wife had brought a hush over Medicine Bow's rioting.
4. a. Free from constraint or stiffness; chiefly of or with reference to bodily posture or movements. Also transf. of manners or behaviour: Free from embarrassment or awkwardness. Also in phrase, free and easy (see free).
1483Cath. Angl. 117 Esy of gate; gracilis. 1656H. More Antid. Ath. (1712) Gen. Pref. 17 That I might the more undisturbedly write the easie Emanations of mine own Mind. 1680Burnet Rochester 7 His conversation was easie and obliging. 1704Rowe Ulyss. i. i. 77 Be easie, affable, familiar, friendly. 1750Earl of Shaftesbury in Priv. Lett. 1st Ld. Malmesbury I. 77 Handel..is quite easy in his behaviour. 1821Scott Kenilw. xvi, Leicester, bowing to his rival with the easiest and most graceful courtesy. 1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. III. 142 He was a most friendly personage, as willing as he was free and easy. 1850A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 279 To an easy graceful carriage..he added..great skill in argument.
b. of written compositions: Showing no trace of effort; smooth, flowing. Also transf. Of a writer or thinker.
1711Steele Spect. No. 109 ⁋5 He sits with one Hand on a Desk writing and looking as it were another way, like an easy Writer. 1713Guardian No. 15 (1756) I. 69 As there is an easy mien, and easy dress..so there is an easy sort of poetry. 1832tr. Sismond's Ital. Rep. vii. 153 The light, elegant, and easy prose of his novels. 1880L. Stephen Pope iv. 90 He could seldom lay aside his self-consciousness sufficiently to write an easy letter. 1884Church Bacon ix. 220 Easy and unstudied as his writing seems, it was..the result of unintermitted trouble and varied modes of working.
5. a. Not hard pressed: not hurried, gentle; said of motion, a breeze, a fire, etc. Also Naut., as easy sail.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 284, I saugh comyng of ladyes nientene In..a ful esy paas. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xvii. (Tollem. MS.), To make þe syȝte perfit þis þingis beþ nedful; þe cause efficient..and takynge hede, and esy meuynge [L. motus mediocris]. Ibid. xix. lx. (1495) 897 Oximell is sodde on easy fyre and softe vnto it be thycke. c1440Promp. Parv. 143 Esy, or softe, yn sterynge, lentus. 1607Topsell Serpents 795 They have a very slow and easie pace. 1671Milton P.R. i. 120 So to the Coast of Jordan he directs His easie steps. 1704J. Cuningham in Phil. Trans. XXV. 1659 Fair and serene weather..with easie Gales at S. 1716Lond. Gaz. No. 5450/2 We made an easie sail for the Maese. 1834H. Caunter Orient. Ann. i. 2 We coasted within four leagues of the land, under easy sail, with light breezes. 1852G. W. Curtis Wand. in Syria i. i. 8 The donkeys are like large dogs, and of easy motion. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Easy draught. The same as light draught of water. Easy roll. A vessel is said to roll deep but easy, when she moves slowly, and not with quick jerks.
b. be easy! do not hurry, don't be so eager. Now considered an ‘Irishism’.
1746W. Thompson R.N. Advoc. (1757) 26 That Gentleman..advised the said William Thompson to be easy for a little Time. 1838J. Grant Sk. Lond. 41 ‘Be aisy, be aisy!..and don't be after killin' him quite.’
6. Free from mental anxiety, care, or apprehension. Phrase, to make (a person) easy.
1692E. Walker Epictetus' Mor. xx, Manage the rest of your affairs of Life With easie Conversation, void of Strife. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xx. 363, I was perfectly easy as to the security of my effects. 1722― Col. Jack (1840) 208, I made her easy on that point. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. v. 187 Meer Causim was not easy upon the prospect of a connexion between the Emperor and the English. 1885Sir J. Hannen in Law Rep. 10 P.D. 88 A sensitive girl, whose conscience was not easy on the subject.
7. Fond of ease, averse to taking pains or thought; not strenuous, indolent; careless, thoughtless, unconcerned; = easy-going.
1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. §10. 3 The easie softnesses of religious affections. 1650― Holy Living ii. (1727) § 79 For no easie, healthful and idle person was ever chaste. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 604 Easy Sloath. 1724Watts Logic iv. i. (1802) 371 In this easy view of things. 1798Wordsw. Old Cumb. Beggar 108 The easy man Who sits at his own door,—and..Feeds in the sunshine. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xiii. 251 They mark out for their prey the easy colonists. 1871Rossetti Dante at Ver. xvi, He'd meet them flushed with easy youth.
8. a. (With mixed notion of 2, 3, 6.) In comfortable circumstances, well off. Also of ‘circumstances’, fortune.
1701Col. Rec. Penn. II. 41 To make them and their Posterity easie in all times to come. 1708Swift Abol. Chr. Wks. 1755 II. i. 86 Such a rent as, in the modern form of speech, would make them easy. 1721Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. III. 206 Men easy in their fortunes, and unprovoked by hardships of any sort. 1726Butler Serm. vi. 108 One in easie Circumstances. 1783Burke Sp. E. Ind. Bill Wks. IV. 59 These plots and rebellions..are the offspring of an easy condition, and hoarded riches. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 46 Easy farmers display a variety of plate. 1857Edin. Rev. July, The ‘easy’ classes will contrive to furnish the governing classes of the country. 1879B. Taylor Stud. Germ. Lit. 160 He was in easy circumstances.
b. easy street: comfortable circumstances, affluence. Esp. preceded by on. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1901G. W. Peck Peck's Red-Headed Boy iii. 18 This rich old Jew..who has been economical until he has got a million and is residing on easy street, will forget the traditions of two thousand years. 1902G. V. Hobart It's up to You 31 A young man who could walk up and down Easy Street. 1903A. H. Lewis Boss 205 Just as a sport finds himself on easy street. 1923Wodehouse Adv. Sally xiv. 180 Honestly,..it's the chance of a lifetime. It would put you right on easy street. 1932M. de la Roche Master of Jalna v. ix. 1011 ‘Are you sure you can spare it?’ ‘Good Lord! I hope so—after the sale! I'm in Easy Street.’ 1938F. Scott Fitzgerald Let. 25 Nov. (1964) 44 There will have to be a period of tough sledding before you come to Easy Street. 1957L. P. Hartley Hireling viii. 60 He knew that she lived in Easy Street, but then so did most, if not all, of his customers.
II.
9. a. Conducive to ease or comfort: chiefly of appliances for repose. See also easy-chair.
138.Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 129 Þei slepyn ful soft in ful eesi beddis. c1400Rom. Rose 5609 Though he have lytel worldis goode, Mete & drynke, & esy foode. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. lxxviii. [lxxiv.] 234 Theyr lodgynge..was not so easye nor large as thoughe they had ben at Parys. 1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. i. §19 (1864) 104 Driven along at a moderate speed, in an easy carriage. 1879Walford Londoniana II. 105 An office much sought after as one of those ‘easy cushions’ reserved for the repose of men of merit or favourites of the great.
†b. Advantageous, affording convenience, satisfactory. Obs.
c1485Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 126 [A horse is] esy and prophetabyll. 1673Temple Observ. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 34 Having all one common End of publick Good, they come after full Debates to easie Resolutions.
c. In phrs. easy to look at, easy on the eye(s), affording pleasure to the beholder; esp. of women: comely, beautiful. colloq. (orig. U.S.). Also in various combs., as easy-to-make, easy-to-operate, easy-to-use, easy-to-wear, etc.
1902Ade Girl Proposition 141 He put his Tag on a blonde Canary 17 Years of Age who spelled Sure with an H and had from 7 to 9 Thoughts every 24 Hours. But she was very Easy to Look at. 1922Wodehouse Clicking of Cuthbert x. 253 Her Highness is the easiest thing to look at these eyes have ever seen. 1937C. Beaton Diary 3 June in Wandering Years (1961) 310 A pliable, easy-to-pose subject. 1937Punch 8 Sept. 260/1 The same incorrigibly cheerful creature, very easy to look at, very pleasant to listen to. 1938Amer. Speech XIII. 205 [The dictionary] is a substantial compilation, easy on the eyes, comparatively rich in idiomatic expressions. 1939Vogue's Cookery Bk. i. 15 This is an easy-to-make soup for a hot day. 1943D. E. Stevenson Two Mrs. Abbotts v. 35 Miss Walters was certainly easy on the eye. 1949Consumer Reports Feb. 68/2 Many prospective purchasers want an easy-to-operate device. 1951in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 153/1 The same easy-to-follow lessons. 1958Oxf. Mail 1 July 6/5 One of the good Westerns, east on the eye and mind, and pretty tough on the pulses. 1959Times 9 Mar. Suppl. p. x/3 Easy-to-serve packed foods. 1959Easy-to-use [see applicator]. 1959News Chron. 10 Aug. 6/5 This hat has the soft easy-to-wear line. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 15 Mar. 122/1 This tough, easy-to-use, real wood building panel. 1960Guardian 25 Apr. 4/1 Easy-to-follow recipes.
III. Causing little discomfort or obstruction.
10. a. Of the means, method, or object of an action: Presenting few difficulties; offering little resistance. Const. inf. (act., less freq. pass.) or of followed by n. denoting the action; also with the nature of the action contextually implied: of books, language; = easy to read, understand; of the soil; = easy to cultivate, etc.
c1340Cursor M. 16357 (Trin.) Þei..cut þis tre in two; þei fond hit good and esy to dele wiþ. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 202 Þis pater noster þat is best & most hesy of alle. 15..Frere & Boye 76 in Ritson Anc. Pop. P. 38 The olde man was easy to please. 1578Lyte Dodoens iii. xlviii. 385 Vitalba..hath long branches ful of ioyntes, easie to ploy. 1581Charke in Confer. iv. (1584) Cc iij, The place is easie Greeke. 1609Holland Livy xxiii. xiii. 481 Nothing..is more eise and easie [facilius] to be knowne. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xviii. 89 From want of understanding this easie truth. 1674Brevint Saul at Endor 240 Two ready and easie waies of procuring Atonement. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 283 Ploughing is an imitative Toil, Resembling Nature in an easie Soil. 1712Addison Spect. No. 291 ⁋6 This part of a critick is very easie to succeed in. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 163 note, Those, which being in great collections are most easy of access. 1776Adam Smith W.N. I. i. i. 11 Men are much more likely to discover easier..methods of attaining any object. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. ii. xii. (1865) 314 The writings of Temple are, in general, after this easy copy. 1879Lubbock Sci. Lect. ii. 31 The colors and scents are useful in making the flowers more easy to find.
b. Of a road: That may be travelled without discomfort or difficulty. Of a slope: Gradual, not steep.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1402 Þe way of dede semes large and eesy. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxxiv. 328 And all the other of the Companyons..had more easy passage thanne those that passed the day before. 1563Homilies ii. Repentance ii. (1859) 536 An easie and short ladder, whereby we may climbe. 1596Spenser State Irel. 3 Subdued the people unto him, & made easie way to the settling of his will. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 17 At last, with easie Rodes he [Wolsey] came to Leicester. 1709Steele Tatler No. 179 ⁋6 You mount by six easy steps. 1801Southey Thalaba vii. xx, Children of Earth,..Whom I have guided here By easier passage.
c. Of water, etc.: not rapid, swift, or turbulent.
1875‘Mark Twain’ Old Times Mississippi iii. 52 Follow along close under the reef—easy water there—not much current.
d. easy listening, designating a category of (recorded) music which is popular without being loud, abrasive, or otherwise demanding; also transf.
1965Billboard 5 June 1/3 Billboard this week introduces the ‘Top 40 Easy Listening’ chart. 1974C. James in New Rev. Aug. 20/2 We found out how to write from talking Scouse... That's what makes our poems easy listening. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 25 Sept. 9/1 All the plants can groove to continuous music. ‘I stick with easy-listening or classical,’ said Blakeley, pointing to mounted speakers. 1979Farmington (New Mexico) Daily Times 27 May (Entertainment Suppl.) 6/2 (Advt.), All of yesterday's and today's sounds! Country & Western, Easy Listening, Contemporary and Disco. 1986W. Safire in N.Y. Times Mag. 7 Sept. 16/3 You can also get easy listening, which until recently meant the music of the 60's played in the 80's with the style of the 40's.
11. Of actions: Not difficult; to be accomplished with little effort. Frequently as complement when the subject is a vb. in the inf.; = eath 1.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 245 For drede of lettyng of bettre occupacion þat is more liȝt or eisy. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xx. (1495) 208 In olde men abstynence of meete is softe and easy. 1538Starkey England iii. 69 Much easyar to spy ij fautys then amend one. 1578T. Procter Gorg. Gallery in Heliconia I. 81 As eese a broken Syve Should holde the dropping rayne. 1626Bacon Sylva §57 After taking of somewhat of easie Digestion. 1650T. Hubbert Pill Formality 144 You must live after the spirit..and thats no easie thing to do. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 128 It is as easy to close the eyes of the mind as those of the body. 1842A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 144 The easier digestibility of animal food in man. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. vii. 151 It is of the nature of habit to make acts easier and easier. 1878Morley Carlyle, Crit. Misc. 196 It is easy to make a solitude and call it peace.
12. a. Of persons and their dispositions: Moved without difficulty to action or belief; soon yielding, compliant; credulous. lady of easy virtue: euphemistically for an unchaste woman. easy game, easy mark, easy meat: see sense 13 b.
1611Shakes. Cymb. ii. iv. 47 Not a whit, Your lady being so easy. 1643Denham Poems 169 An easy ear deceives, and is deceiv'd. 1672Dryden Conq. Granada iii. i, An easie King deserves no better Fate. 1697― Virg. æneid ii. 261 With such Deceits he gain'd their easie hearts. 1752Young Brothers iii. i, To which his easy nature, soon appeas'd, Invited me. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. v. i. (1849) 263 The great city..seemed, like some fair lady of easy virtue, to lie open to attack, and ready to yield to the first invader. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 258 Juries were no longer so easy of belief.
†b. Not unwilling, ready. Const. inf. Now only with passive, as easy to be entreated; cf. 10. Obs.
1653Holcroft Procopius iii. 83 When men ignorantly..do wrong, the wronged are to be easie to grant pardon. 1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1848) 55 Hutchinson was neither easy to believe it, nor frighted at the example. 1715Burnet Own Times (1823) I. 529 He was too easy to enter into any employment that might bring him into favour. 1738Wesley Psalm cxvi. 5 How easy to forgive!
c. Esp. in colloq. phr. I'm easy, I'm ready to comply (with whatever is proposed), without having any strong feelings (about the proposal); I don't mind one way or the other.
1941in Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 27. 1945 in C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake (ed. 2) 26. 1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams (1963) ii. xviii. 80 ‘How about you, honey?’ ‘I'm easy.’ 1968‘L. Marshall’ Blood on Blotter xii. 84 You can believe 'em or not. I'm easy. Ibid. xxi. 145 You'll have to make up your own mind. I'm easy.
13. a. That is obtained with ease, with little effort or sacrifice. easy money: money obtained without effort, and, often, illegally; also with an amount specified (easy dollar, etc.) (orig. U.S.).
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 641 The Swain..Receives his easy Food from Nature's Hand. Ibid. iv. 704 A Fault which easie Pardon might receive, Were Lovers Judges. 1785Cowper Tiroc. 766 Disease or comes not, or finds easy cure. 1856Trevelyan Macaulay (1876) II. xiv. 463 He obtained an easy pardon. 1882Sydney Slang Dict. 5/1 The money earned by a prostitute is said to be ‘honest’, as distinguished from that earned by a thief. Probably from the story of the converted burglar who determined to sin no more himself and who lectured against dishonesty, but sent his wife out every night to earn an honest shilling. ‘Easy shilling’ is synonymous in the foregoing sense. 1896Ade Artie x. 79, I guess it's easy money too from the way he lets go of it. 1909‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny vi. 88 The boarding houses were corralling the easy dollars of the gamesome law-breakers. 1914G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. i. 15 It may be this..spirit that inspires the midnight burglar.., not merely the desire for ‘easy money’. 1923Wodehouse Adv. Sally vi. 79 If you want to make a little easy money, you go and bet somebody ten seeds that I'm going to interrupt it again. 1935Discovery Feb. 50/1 It is not to be assumed..that fox farming is a short cut to easy money. 1956‘J. Wyndham’ Seeds of Time 100 To enable quick-turnover spivs to make easy money out of suckers. 1967Observer 26 Mar. 9 Here the pursuit of happiness fuses with the pursuit of the easy dollar.
b. easy meat (colloq.): someone or something overcome, mastered, or persuaded without difficulty; anything compassed with ease. Similarly easy game, easy mark.
1896W. C. Gore in Inlander Jan. 147 Easy mark, an easy prey to a joke. Ibid., Easy meat, one easily duped. 1899‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Dec. 49/1 So I disguised myself and came back and studied you. You were easy game. 1927T. E. Lawrence Let. 8 Dec. (1938) 557 That..made him easy meat for all the politicians. a1928in C. F. S. Gamble North Sea Air Station (1928) ix. 143 Had the Zeppelin been picked up by a searchlight, it would..have been easy meat. 1929Wodehouse Gent. of Leisure i. 9 If a man's fool enough to be an easy mark ―. a1935T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) i. xix. 66 The driver is an old sweat, not a rookie's easy meat. 1935Evening News 29 June 3/1 An immense number of names has been invented for the victims [of confidence men]—..suckers, easy marks, wise guys, come-ons. 1943Archit. Rev. XCIII. 23 All are easy meat, because a civilization is disintegrating and has lost its standards. 1944W. E. Harney Taboo (ed. 4) 92 He had a gentle nature, ever out to please. He was the type that is known both to white and black as ‘an easy mark’. 1955Sci. News Let. 28 May 342/1 American pipelines are easy game for an enemy. 1958Times 29 Oct. 3/2 The play was chosen, no doubt, on the principle that comedy is easy meat for the inexperienced. 1967Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1105/1 Easy mark, a girl easy to persuade into sexual intercourse: since ca. 1920.
14. a. Of burdens or penalties: Not oppressive or painful. Of prices or conditions: Moderate, not burdensome.
1382Wyclif Matt. xi. 30 My ȝoc is swete, or softe, and my charge liȝt, or eisy. 1413Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle iii. vi. (1483) 54 That hath..graunted the to be purged with more esy peynes. 1426Audelay Poems 47 Curators Engeyne ȝe not to ȝeesy penans, ne to strayt algat. 1488–9Act 4 Hen. VII, ix, They woll sell theym at none esier price. 1557N. T. (Genev.) Matt. xi. 22 It shalbe easier for Tyre and Sidon at the day of iudgement, then for you. 1663Gerbier Counsel C ij b, Where Marble is to be had at easy rate, but where Copper is very dear. 1696Pepys Diary VI. 187 Secure it for me on the easiest terms you can. 1766Entick London IV. 31 An easy fee of one shilling. a1771Smollett Love Elegy 18 And bid the turf lie easy on my breast. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 251 He remained there in easy confinement. 1879Froude Cæsar iv. 34 Peace was granted to him on the easy conditions of a nominal fine.
†b. Of persons: Not oppressive or severe; not exacting; lenient, gentle; cf. 12. In 18th c. also: Not difficult to ‘get on’ with [cf. Fr. aisé à vivre].
c1325Body & Soul (Laud MS.) in Wright Mapes' Poems 336 For I [the body] the [the soul] so eise fond the[r]fore couthe I nevere blinne. c1386Chaucer Prol. 223 He was an esy man to yeue penaunce. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. (1858) 70 Sche mad hir son more esy, and sesed mech his persecucion. 1483Vulg. abs Terentio 30 b, Faders shuld be esy ande tendyr anemste theire chyldere. 1699Bentley Phal. 310 Pisistratus,..a generous and easie Governour. 1714Swift Pres. St. Affairs Wks. 1755 II. i. 221 Supposing..that the elector should refuse to be..easy with the queen herself. 1727― To very yng. Lady Wks. II. ii. 42 A shrew from Billingsgate would be a more easy and eligible companion.
c. easy rider (U.S. slang): (a) a sexually satisfying lover (see also quot. 1926); (b) a guitar.
1912–13W. C. Handy Memphis Blues, Mr. Crump don't 'low no easy riders here. 1926in R. de Toledano Frontiers Jazz (1947) iii. 37 ‘Rider’, ‘easy rider’, which term means both lover and (not either, or) procurer... Fidelity to his woman is expected of the easy rider. 1927Jrnl. Abnormal & Social Psychol. XXII. 16 ‘Easy rider’. This apt expression is used to describe a man whose movements in coitus are easy and satisfying. It is frequently met both in Negro folk songs and in formal songs. ‘I wonder where my easy rider's gone’, is a sort of by-word with Southern negroes. 1949R. Blesh Shining Trumpets vi. 128 In rural Negro parlance..easy rider meant the guitar..carried suspended by its cord. In the double meaning of Negro imagery, the femininely formed guitar..typifies also a woman companion. In Negro ‘city talk’, the term easy rider has come to mean either a sexually satisfying woman or a male lover who lives off a woman's earnings. 1958P. Oliver in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz i. 24 For the blues singer, the most valuable instrument was the guitar,..and, as his ‘easy rider’, could be slung across his back when he wished to travel.
†15. Of small ‘weight’ or importance, insignificant, slight; not very good, indifferent. So easy birth, easy capacity; cf. dial. ‘Easy, idiotic’ (East Cornw. Gloss.). Obs.
1468Sir J. Paston in Lett. (1874) II. 321 Thow..I..have govyn yow bot easy cause to remembyr me..yet..let me not be forgotyn. 1475Bk. Noblesse 78 Holden vertuous..though he were descendid but of esie birthe. 1481Caxton Tulle's Old Age H j, Of so grete age that he..shold be of easy power of bodily strength to make werre ayenst Carthage. 1491Will of Cliff (Somerset Ho.), I shall leue but Esy good. 1519W. Horman Vulg. 147 b, Easy agrement foloweth..where women be maried not for loue but for good. 1542Udall Erasm. Apophth. (1877) 348 Wine that was but easie and so-so. 1642R. Carpenter Experiences ii. vii. 171 Shall one of us dirty creatures..frowne and be troubled..moved by every small and easie occasion. 1648Symmons Vind. Charles I, 191 Though an easie capacity might foresee that they could do nothing by such an enterprize.
16. Not pressing hardly; loosely fitting; opposed to tight.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 50 Is my beaver easier? 1601― All's Well v. iii. 278 This womans an easie gloue my Lord, She goes off and on at pleasure. Mod. The coat is an easy fit. An easy pair of slippers. The nut of the screw is a little too easy.
17. Comm. (opposed to tight.) Of a commodity: Not much in demand; hardly maintaining its price. Of the state of the market: Not characterized by eager demand; showing little firmness in prices.
1836D. Webster Private Corr. (1856) II. 21 The deposit and distribution bill has become a law, and money is already getting to be much easier, as the phrase is. 1848Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v., ‘The money market is easy’; i.e. loans of money may easily be procured. 1870J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 69 The lender seeks the borrower. Money becomes a drug. Technically it is ‘easy’ or ‘inactive’. 1873Money Market (ed. 3) 4 When the total supply of surplus money, unemployed in a reproductive manner, is abundant, the market is said to be ‘easy’; when it is scarce, the market is ‘tight’. 1875Economist 2 Jan. 18/2 The prevailing anticipation of an easy money market. 1888Standard 7 Apr. 2/8 (Trade report) Bacon is easier. a1891Mod. The money-market is easy. 1957Economist 7 Dec. 867/2 The objective expert inquiry which Mr Eisenhower sought was swamped in the House when the advocates of easy money climbed aboard.
18. In Whist. honours easy: said when the ‘honours’ are evenly divided. (Merely colloq.: the technical phrase is ‘honours divided’.)
1884Sat. Rev. 26 July 103 If we have the worst of that, honours are easy.
B. adv. In an easy manner.
1. Without difficulty. Chiefly in compar. or superl.; now colloq. or vulgar.
1400in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 239 For esye he comun al esye ho ssuln wende. 1564Brief Exam. ***b, This thyng is easyer..saide of you, then proued. 1596Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 4 Three miles it might be easie heard. 1600Shakes. Sonn. cix, As easie might I from my selfe depart, As, etc. 1680Sir R. Filmer Patriarcha iii. §12 The voice of a multitude is easier heard. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 279 The good man can easiest persuade himself that God is good. 1823Byron Juan xiv. lxxxv, A wavering spirit may be easier wreck'd. 1871Smiles Charac. v. (1876) 134 All the easier led away by bad example.
†2. In a very moderate degree. Obs.
1475Bk. Noblesse 72 Many of the officers have be but esy vaileable to the defense of youre countre.
3. Not tightly, with freedom of movement.
1710Steele Tatler No. 204 ⁋2 Fit as easie as any Piece of Work. 1820Keats St. Agnes xli, The bolts full easy slide.
4. a. colloq. At a leisurely pace, comfortably, without much trouble; in a comfortable position (also transf. of a ship). In phr. to take it easy, to make oneself comfortable, to do no more than one must; also, to let one off easy, i.e. with a light penalty; to go easy (on or with), to use sparingly; to act cautiously, to proceed with caution; also absol. (cf. quot. 1885); easy does it, go carefully, take your time.
1779Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 13 Which kept the vessel's head to the sea, and made her lie easy. 1821Byron Lett. civ. in Moore Life 1833 III. 139 ‘The two dozen’ were with the cat-o'-nine tails;—the ‘let you off easy’ was rather his own opinion than that of the patient. 1850Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xii. 103 Everything was going on quite easy and comfortable. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., Taking it easy. Neglecting the duty. 1885Illust. Lond. News 23 May 539/2 Take my advice, and go easy for a bit. 1891Farmer Slang II. 352/1 Easy does it! (popular). An exclamation of encouragement and counsel = ‘Take your time and keep your coat on.’ 1900C. W. Winchester Victories of Wesley Castle vii. 143 You will have to go easy on that subject. 1928J. P. McEvoy Showgirl 21 No high pressure stuff, sis. Easy does it with Dick. 1934R. Macaulay Going Abroad xxx. 279 I've more or less gone easy on the powder and lipstick. 1935‘A. Bridge’ Illyrian Spring xi. 143 Easy does it—to be easy was the thing. 1947D. M. Davin For Rest of Lives xxii. 108 Go easy with that torch. 1955L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman xxx. 272, I won't ask her yet what's the matter he decided. Easy does it. 1965Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Apr. 317/1 A couple of foreign translations of my works should have warned me to go easy.
b. colloq. As word of command. easy!: (move) gently! Also easy ahead!: (steam) at a moderate speed!; easy on: steady on! go easy! In Boating, easy all!: stop (rowing)! Hence as n. A short rest.
1865‘A Don’ Sketches fr. Cambr. 119 Hallo! easy all! Hard word there, Smith! what does it mean? 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Easy, lower gently. 1883I. L. Bishop Sk. in Malay Pen. v. in Leisure Hour 193/2 ‘Easy ahead’, shouts the..captain. 1885Standard 6 Mar. 3/7 They reached Iffley lock without an easy. 1892G. R. Lowndes Camping Sk. v. 161 We took a day's easy at Tyn-y-groes,..by the salmon pool. 1922T. E. Lawrence Let. 7 Sept. (1938) 365, I..read it in an easy, as we sat on the stye roof. 1928Observer 19 Feb. 14 In the fourth [movement], being unable to switch off, I took an easy by thinking of something else. 1929M. de la Roche Whiteoaks x. 490 ‘What's the to-do?’.. ‘Easy on, Mama... It's nothing but young Finch. We've found out where he is.’ 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 27 Easy on!, go easy! desist! be sensible!
c. stand easy: an order in military use allowing a greater freedom of posture than ‘stand at ease’.
1859Field Exerc. Infantry 5 If the command to Stand-at-Ease is followed by the word Stand Easy, the men will be permitted to move their limbs, but without quitting their ground. 1883Ibid. i. 6 On the word Squad being given to men standing easy, every soldier will at once assume the position of standing at ease. 1914Recruit Training (Infantry) 5 Stand at Ease. Feet sufficiently apart. Easy position. Dressing maintained. Men perfectly still till ‘Stand easy’ given. 1920Galsworthy Foundations iii. 62 Form fours—by your right—quick march!.. Left turn!.. Stand easy!
C. Comb.
a. parasynthetic, as easy-hearted, easy-humoured, easy-priced, easy-spirited, easy-tempered;
b. adverbial, as easy-borrowed, easy-flowing, easy-handled, easy-held, easy-rising, easy-spoken, easy-yielding. Also easy-going.
1605Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 187 A Slaue whose *easie borrowed pride Dwels in the fickle grace of her he followes.
1839J. Darley Introd. Beaum. & Fl. Wks. 1839 I. 25 Fletcher's liveliness, bustle, his *easy-flowing language..are sure to titillate a mixed audience.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xxv. 142 One of those *easy-handled personages.
1634Milton Comus 164, I..wind me into the *easy-hearted man, And hug him into snares.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 139 Her *easie held imprisonment.
a1720Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) II. 177 Tully, the most *easy-humoured and facetious man in the world. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xxv. 147 The easiest-humoured amateur of luxury.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. i. 171 Haue wrought the *easie-melting King, like Wax.
1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis ii. xi. 98 There were small hillocks upon an *easie-rising plain.
1633Ford Love's Sacrif. ii. iv, I was a good, cold, *easy-spirited man.
1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. i. 10 A world, where most of us are plain *easy-spoken people.
1822W. Irving Braceb. Hall iv. 38 Her ladyship is one of those *easy-tempered beings.
a1680Butler Rem. (1759) XIV. 65 For what does vast Wealth bring, but Cheat..An *easy-troubled Life, and short?
1597Daniel Civ. Wares i. clxi, And *easie-yeelding zeale was quickly caught.
c. Special collocations. easy-care, used attrib. of (the properties of) man-made and other fabrics: convenient, serviceable (implying rapid drying after laundering, and crease-resistance); easy-clean, used attrib. of a fabric, etc., that is easy to clean; easy-paced a. Cricket and Golf, said of the ground or pitch when the ball comes at an easy pace off or along it.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 12 Jan. Suppl. 2/1 The easy-care properties common to all synthetic fibre or man-made fabrics. 1962J. T. Marsh Self-Smoothing Fabrics ii. 11 The production of ‘easy-care’ goods. 1963New Yorker 8 June 88 Walking shorts, made expressly for us in cool, easy-care cotton-and-acetate seersucker.
1937Times 5 Oct. 6/5 The easy-clean wheels have large hubs—a break from Daimler tradition. 1966Daily Tel. 26 Oct. 13/2 Easy-clean fabrics for chair covers are not yet all available by the yard in shops.
1905Westm. Gaz. 25 July 8/2 Cotter, though he made the ball bump considerably at times, was scarcely suited by the easy-paced wicket. 1928Observer 1 July 28/1 Batting first on an easy-paced pitch, Leicestershire began well against Warwickshire. 1959Times 12 Sept. 3/4 Easy-paced greens.
D. as n.; see B. 4 b.
▸ colloq.easy come, easy go: what is acquired without effort or difficulty is often as easily lost, or may be abandoned without regret; freq. expressing a relaxed, carefree, or fatalistic approach to life, esp. to material possessions or relationships. Also as adj.: designating such an attitude.
[1546J. Heywood Prov. sig. L, Lyght come lyght go.] [1650A. Bradstreet Tenth Muse 126 For that which easily comes, as freely goes.] 1832S. Warren Diary Late Physician II. vi. 278 ‘Easy come, easy go’ is..characteristic of rapidly acquired commercial fortunes. 1853E. T. Freedley Pract. Treat. Business 311 Prosperity is a more severe ordeal than adversity, especially sudden prosperity. ‘Easy come, easy go’, is an old and true proverb. 1913Sat. Evening Post 22 Feb. 14/3 Five trucks in all we'd got away with; and from one, I remember, we knocked out nearly a thousand dollars apiece. As is always the case, though, with a crook, it was easy come, easy go; and I was flat broke again—down to the grit almost. 1950E. Waugh Let. 26 Apr. (1980) 324 Cécile has passed out of my heart... Easy come, easy go. 1977Belfast Tel. 22 Feb. 6/6 And we may also expect that with statutory encouragement for an ‘easy come, easy go’ attitude to marriage, respect for it as an institution will diminish. 1991M. Falk Part of Furnit. (BNC) 46 What? Sacked!.. Well it's ‘easy come, easy go’ in those places, you should put it behind you and carry on with life, that's the best thing.
▸ easy-drinking adj. (of an alcoholic beverage, esp. wine) easy to drink; smooth, simply flavoured.
1963Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Post 6 Dec. 22 (advt.) Why is CB No. 1? It's the *easy-drinking brandy! Great flavor. Never harsh. All the roughness has been refined away. 1981N.Y. Times (Nexis) 11 Nov. c18 Easy-drinking wines in their youth, many have begun to fade, losing their fruit and displaying the tawny tinge indicative of declining quality. 2005FHM Jan. 231/2 Easy-drinking French fizz lacking the ‘complexity’ of champagne, but it'll happily slide down the throats of ignorant Brit scrotes like us.
▪ II. ˈeasy, v.
[f. prec. adj.]
†a. To make easy; to facilitate. Obs.
†b. To relieve, assist. Obs.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 68 Their [cranes'] flight is like a Triangle, sharpe at the ende, and broade aboue, and easied therewithall by one another his helping. 1551Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 51 If I myght see their forme I shoulde be muche easyed in framynge it.
c. intr. Of an oarsman or crew: to cease rowing.
d. trans. To give (an oarsman or crew) the order to stop rowing.
1852J. F. Bateman Aquatic Notes iii. 32 The University steerer, supposing he had bumped them there, ‘easied all’, but his Crew, perceiving their mistake, pulled on again. 1881Rowing, Steering & Coaching on Cam 25 All boats going down are supposed to give way to boats coming up—i.e., to easy and pull in their oars. Ibid., You must always easy for the 'Varsity trials in the October term. Ibid. 26 You must take care to easy some distance from where you want to stop. 1882Daily Tel. 2 Mar. (Cassell), They..were not easied until reaching Iffley Lasher. 1890S. Lane-Poole Barbary Corsairs ii. xvi. 213 She..‘easies’ with every blade suspended motionless above the waves. 1959Times 13 Mar. 18/1 King's easied opposite the Doves. |