Soften \Sof"ten\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Softened; p. pr. & vb.
n. Softening.]
To make soft or more soft. Specifically:
(a) To render less hard; -- said of matter.
Their arrow's point they soften in the flame.
--Gay.
(b) To mollify; to make less fierce or intractable.
Diffidence conciliates the proud, and softens the
severe. --Rambler.
(c) To palliate; to represent as less enormous; as, to soften
a fault.
(d) To compose; to mitigate; to assuage.
Music can soften pain to ease. --Pope.
(e) To make calm and placid.
All that cheers or softens life. --Pope.
(f) To make less harsh, less rude, less offensive, or less
violent, or to render of an opposite quality.
He bore his great commision in his look, But
tempered awe, and softened all he spoke. --Dryden.
(g) To make less glaring; to tone down; as, to soften the
coloring of a picture.
(h) To make tender; to make effeminate; to enervate; as,
troops softened by luxury.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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