Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To render motionless for lack of wind.
  • transitive verb To make calm or still; soothe.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make calm or still; make quiet; calm.
  • Nautical, to deprive (a ship) of wind; delay by or subject to a calm.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To render calm or quiet; to calm; to still; to appease.
  • transitive verb To keep from motion, or stop the progress of, by the stilling of the wind.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To make calm or still; make quiet; calm.
  • verb transitive, nautical To deprive (a ship) of wind, so that it cannot move (usually in passive).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make steady

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From be- +‎ calm.

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Examples

  • The Cats are underdogs for sure, but that unjustifiably huge spread is going to help motivate them and becalm the Pokes.

    End up like a 'dog that's been beat too much (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009

  • The way this government is attacking my liberties no amount of antacids will becalm my ulcer, so a man in a position as influential as he is had better get his priorities straight if he wants to avoid my ire.

    Is there any Z list celebrity TV challenge that Lembit Opik won't do ? Norfolk Blogger 2009

  • With the wind already sapping from Forest's sails, the goal seem to becalm them completely.

    Lloyd Sam strikes again to earn Leeds a point against Nottingham Forest John Ashdown at the City Ground 2010

  • In one report we had an Olympic swimming pool holding a meagre 1000 megalitres - a waist-high depth that would becalm Eamon Sullivan ( 'Angel', 4, drowns as plastic dam wall fails, page 17, November 25).

    Craig Silverman: The Year in Media Errors and Corrections 2008 2009

  • One of the great things about the writing process for me is I don't really know the characters yet or indeed whether the plot will becalm one of them.

    :Acquired Taste Tim Stretton 2008

  • One of the great things about the writing process for me is I don't really know the characters yet or indeed whether the plot will becalm one of them.

    Archive 2008-04-01 Tim Stretton 2008

  • The sun sets earlier in London than it did in Liverpool, an unexpected treat and one that helps becalm the city at its most frantic and frenetic period.

    Archive 2006-11-01 Alistair Myles 2006

  • The sun sets earlier in London than it did in Liverpool, an unexpected treat and one that helps becalm the city at its most frantic and frenetic period.

    Cool it Alistair Myles 2006

  • The government's announcement, however, did nothing to becalm the rand or bond market.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2001

  • Eventually, sheer physical exhaustion forces you to stop, to settle, to becalm yourself amidst all the mad turbulence of bereavement.

    The Pursuit of Happiness Douglas Kennedy 2001

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