quieting

Pluralquietings

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act or process of causing something or someone to become quiet.

   The teacher's quieting of the restless students let the lesson finally begin.

   Doctors noted a gradual quieting of the patient's symptoms over the week.

   Similarcalming, hushing, settling, easing, abatement

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of quiet.

   Quieting the anxious crowd, the speaker raised a calm hand.

   He spent the evening quieting his restless thoughts before sleep.

   Note

   The -ing form carries both halves of the verb. Used transitively, it takes an object: quieting a crowd, quieting one's nerves. Used intransitively, it stands alone, as when a room is slowly quieting after the guests leave. As a gerund it names the action itself (quieting a classroom takes patience). The same spelling has also settled into a countable noun with its own plural, quietings.

   The hall was slowly quieting as the lights went down.

   By midnight the city streets were quieting at last.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2