(v. t.) To bring under; to conquer by force or the exertion of superior power, and bring into permanent subjection; to reduce under dominion; to vanquish.
(v. t.) To overpower so as to disable from further resistance; to crush.
(v. t.) To destroy the force of; to overcome; as, medicines subdue a fever.
(v. t.) To render submissive; to bring under command; to reduce to mildness or obedience; to tame; as, to subdue a stubborn child; to subdue the temper or passions.
(v. t.) To overcome, as by persuasion or other mild means; as, to subdue opposition by argument or entreaties.
(v. t.) To reduce to tenderness; to melt; to soften; as, to subdue ferocity by tears.
(v. t.) To make mellow; to break, as land; also, to destroy, as weeds.
(v. t.) To reduce the intensity or degree of; to tone down; to soften; as, to subdue the brilliancy of colors.
Example Sentences:
(1) So I am, of course, intrigued about the city’s newest tourist attraction: a hangover bar, open at weekends, in which sufferers can come in and have a bit of a lie down in soothingly subdued lighting, while sipping vitamin-enriched smoothies.
(2) Hopes that the Queen's diamond jubilee and the £9bn spent on the Olympics would lift sales over the longer term have largely been dashed as growth slows and the outlook, though robust with a growing order book, remains subdued.
(3) The director general of the CML, Paul Smee, said: "January is always a subdued month in the mortgage market but the underlying trend and strong year-on-year growth across all borrower groups indicates a strong start to 2014 continuing the sort of lending levels seen throughout 2013.
(4) England had started with some well-executed set piece moves, a triangular formation in midfield initially foxing Australia, but it was the Wallabies’ ability to react in open play that marked them out: Foley’s first try, after Israel Folau, otherwise subdued on the night, ran through Robshaw, came after he noticed Ben Youngs had drifted too wide and cut inside the scrum-half and Joe Launchbury before wrongfooting Brown.
(5) An investigation by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem concluded that while she did have a knife under her niqab veil she posed no threat to soldiers at the time she was shot and could have been subdued without being fatally wounded.
(6) In these cases, the woman’s wardrobe must feature subdued tones.
(7) Releasing its quarterly inflation report, the Bank's monetary policy committee admitted that the UK recession was deeper than previously thought and that inflation would stay very subdued for a long time – a signal that interest rates will not rise in the short term.
(8) He does not have the ingenuity of Diego Maradona or the lawless wit of Luis Suárez, so does not cast spells over opponents, but he has shown that he can certainly help subdue them and uplift his team.
(9) The company blamed the decline in performance on a challenging trading and competitive environment, ongoing subdued consumer sentiment and economic uncertainty, the effect of strong market capacity growth and an unrecovered $27m cost of the carbon tax.
(10) And we are hopeful that a recovery in productivity will keep firms' cost pressures subdued," its economists said in a research note.
(11) "However, one area of the market which is subdued is remortgaging – all the more surprising when you consider the excellent rates available and the threat of an interest rate rise.
(12) Examples included officers punching and using pepper spray on people who have already been subdued, including after they have been handcuffed and at times “as punishment for the person’s earlier verbal or physical resistance”.
(13) In the Alevi association, in this subdued but defiant campaign, Demirtaş looked past the cameras, his gaze static and distant, and seemed not to be there.
(14) Believing the suspect’s magazine was empty, he chased the gunman in hopes of subduing him.
(15) No, Mourinho always wants to win but the priority was certainly to hold the fort – and there is no better team in England when it comes to subduing high-calibre opponents.
(16) Forming a coalition will be challenging, while operational considerations must not be subordinate to political ones, Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies told the Guardian: "A coalition in which sectarian Iraqi Shia militias play a key role because these are Baghdad's only or most reliable troops, or in which Kurdish fighters are asked to operate far from their territories, could antagonise the very constituency whose support against Isis is fundamental: the various local Sunni communities who have accommodated or been subdued by Isis."
(17) The crowd was initially subdued, having just seen Murray crash out and there were plenty of empty seats when the match began.
(18) It had begun as a subdued explosion, really, in the early 1960s, when a new generation of bohemians began to adapt and mutate the culture of the 'Beats' - Jack Kerouac et al - which had installed itself on North Beach during the late 1950s.
(19) A subdued Rosberg was in his shoulder-shrugging mood.
(20) The results indicate that the extent of DNA degradation to acid-soluble nucleotides is highest in chromatin at the early stages of gonad growth, being drastically subdued in the mature sperm cell.
Titter
Definition:
(v. t.) To laugh with the tongue striking against the root of the upper teeth; to laugh with restraint, or without much noise; to giggle.
(n.) A restrained laugh.
(v. i.) To seesaw. See Teeter.
Example Sentences:
(1) But in and among the general approval, there was the odd titter that such a well-established prize should find itself being backed by a purveyor of sticky drinks.
(2) But there’s also generic observational material (how British people avoid speaking to strangers on trains, and so on), and I soon found Hess’s incessant burbling and tittering around largely trivial subjects beginning to wash over me.
(3) The audience tittered when Murdoch said he thought the channel's news coverage had no political bias.
(4) Well Dave genuinely thought the reptiles would go mad for tantric sex lolz because when he tested it in cabinet people were seriously woof, Govey was so hysterical that Haguey was like, hark at Lady Govina, titter ye not missus & Picklesy kept shouting encore, so Dave said funny you should ask, well they have this position called the BT engineer as in you stay in all day and no one comes.
(5) There was a bit of tittering from the audience and it has to be said that in this city of nostalgia and football passion, where Diego Maradona will always be king and everybody is an expert, Benítez retains popular support.
(6) The muses holding up the balcony tittered and the huge chandelier, only just out of reach of Dodd's enormous tickling stick, tinkled with delight.
(7) Labour's shadow education secretary, and historian, Tristram Hunt retorts that it is Gove's argument, rather than unpatriotic Britons tittering over fictional tortoises, that is really shocking.
(8) And there was a certain amount of twitter tittering about two of the world's most eminent economists getting their sums wrong.
(9) It’s easier to say we are not guilty, the Russians are guilty … It reminds me of antisemitism: the Jews are guilty of everything,” Putin said at the end of his comments, which drew titters from the audience.
(10) Nadine Dorries "the suspended member for Mid Bedfordshire" – titter ye not – has not yet achieved her stated aim of encouraging a discussion about abortion or the nasty Lib Dems while emptying the dunny.
(11) There are a few titters from the crowd; the venue comfortably holds about 100, but because of the excitable reviews for Musgraves's new album, Same Trailer Different Park , the room is crammed with perhaps double that.
(12) With a competitive league match under their belts, most English teams will have a better of idea where they stand with regard to the season ahead, with Arsenal the subject of much tittering in the wake of their home defeat at the hands of West Ham after All That Talk.
(13) Pretentious in the best sense of the word, Bush in the early 80s became one of those artists, such as the Associates or Japan, who caused Radio 1 daytime DJs to titter nervously, or be openly derisive.
(14) At this point in our conversation Portman, 26 now but still with the proportions and doll-like features of a child, titters - there's no other word for it - nervously.
(15) Significant differences in end point titter were observed both within and between species.
(16) So forget Shagga, titter ye not and consider the (serious face) … Geopolitical context Remember that episode of Borgen where they spent an hour that you'll never get back on the power plays over the election of Denmark's next EU commissioner?
(17) Let the camp tittering cease while its spiritual significance is finally acknowledged.
(18) A real human voice – the conductor, presumably – raises a significant titter in the carriage when reminding us of this, adding “assuming they arrive on time”.
(19) "A mountain has been made out of a molehill," said Dave Bassett, oblivious to the tittering around him.
(20) Titter in the audience as he speaks of the controversy the award has generated.