humble

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.
2. adj. Showing deferential or submissive respect: a humble apology.
3. adj. Low in rank, quality, or station; unpretentious or lowly: a humble cottage.
4. v. To curtail or destroy the pride of; humiliate.
5. v. To cause to be meek or modest in spirit.
6. v. To give a lower condition or station to; abase. See Synonyms at degrade.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To hum.
2. To break; make sore.
3. To break off the ears of (barley) with a flail; separate from the awns.
4. To break off the horns of.
5. Broken; bruised; sore.
6. Having no horns, as a cow.
7. Pertaining to a humble cow.
8. Lowly in kind, state, condition, amount, etc.; of little worth or moment; unimportant; low; common: as, a humble cottage; a man of humble origin; a humble follower; my humble means.
9. Lowly in manner or guise; modest; unpretending; submissive: as, a humble apology.
10. Lowly in feeling; lacking self-esteem; having a sense of insignificance, unworthiness, dependence, or sinfulness; meek; penitent.
11. To make lower; bring down; bow down.
12. To make lower in state or condition; reduce in power, possessions, esteem, etc.; abase: as, to humble one's foes; to humble the pride of a rival.
13. To make humble or lowly in feeling; bring down the pride or vanity of; make meek and submissive; humiliate: often used reflexively.
14. Synonyms Debase, Degrade, etc. See abase.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage.
2. adj. Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; lowly; weak; modest.
3. v. To bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humiliate.
4. v. To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride or arrogance of; to reduce the self-sufficiency of; to make meek and submissive; -- often used reflexively.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
2. adj. Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; thinking one's self ill-deserving or unworthy, when judged by the demands of God; lowly; waek; modest.
3. adj. Scot. Hornless. See hummel.
4. v. To bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humilate.
5. v. To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride or arrogance of; to reduce the self-sufficiently of; to make meek and submissive; -- often used rexlexively.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
2. adj. low or inferior in station or quality
3. adj. used of unskilled work (especially domestic work)
4. adj. of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense)
5. v. cause to be unpretentious
6. adj. marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful