calming

Pluralcalmings

1. 1
   adjective

   Producing a feeling of peace and ease; soothing and relaxing.

   The therapist played calming sounds of rain and distant waves.

   Lavender is widely regarded as calming, which is why it appears in so many bedtime products.

   Similarsoothing, relaxing, restful, peaceful, sedative

   Oppositestimulating, stressful, agitating, jarring

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of calm.

   He spent the whole evening calming his nervous dinner guests.

   Calming the panicked crowd took several careful announcements.

   Note

   Both sides of the verb show through in this form. Used transitively, it takes an object: calming the crowd, calming his guests. Used intransitively, it stands alone, as when the sea is calming after a storm. To tell it from the soothing adjective, try more or very. A more calming tea is the adjective. Calming the guests takes an object and cannot be graded that way.

   The wind was finally calming as the boats came back into harbor.

   By midnight the city was calming after the noise of the parade.

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   An instance of something growing calmer, or the act of bringing about that change.

   The gradual calming of the seas finally allowed the fishing boats to return.

   A few deep breaths brought a sudden calming of her frayed nerves.

   Similareasing, settling, abatement, subsiding, soothing

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