Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To render motionless for lack of wind: "Across the harbor, a small sailing skiff, becalmed near some reeds, caught the breeze again” ( Horace Freeland Judson).
- v. To make calm or still; soothe.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make calm or still; make quiet; calm.
- Nautical, to deprive (a ship) of wind; delay by or subject to a calm.
Wiktionary
- v. To cut off the wind from a ship either by the proximity of land or by another vessel. A ship that is motionless due to the absence of wind is becalmed.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To render calm or quiet; to calm; to still; to appease.
- v. To keep from motion, or stop the progress of, by the stilling of the wind.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make steady
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)
“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 ?
“With the wind already sapping from Forest's sails, the goal seem to becalm them completely.”
The Guardian: Lloyd Sam strikes again to earn Leeds a point against Nottingham Forest
“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
“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.”
“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.”
“The government's announcement, however, did nothing to becalm the rand or bond market.”
“Eventually, sheer physical exhaustion forces you to stop, to settle, to becalm yourself amidst all the mad turbulence of bereavement.”
“Madam, though the humors of Bath be but a diversion to our contumely, I will not presume on your generosity to the extent of belittling those very qualities which, while they do us but scant justice before the evil tongues of the town, nevertheless becalm the odious, and bring success to fools.”
An Autobiography
“An imprisoned man who asks for an Italian book to becalm his fever may be safely presumed to know that language.”
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