Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pliant"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pliant \Pli"ant\, a. [F. pliant, p. pr. of plier to bend. See
{Ply}, v.]
1. Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or
pressure without breaking; flexible; pliable; lithe;
limber; plastic; as, a pliant thread; pliant wax. Also
used figuratively: Easily influenced for good or evil;
tractable; as, a pliant heart.
The will was then ductile and pliant to right
reason. --South.
2. Favorable to pliancy. [R.] ``A pliant hour.'' --Shak. --
{Pli"ant*ly}, adv. -- {Pli"ant*ness}, n.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pliant
adj 1: capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of
children"; "a pliant nature" [syn: {plastic}]
2: able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an
adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic
clause in a contract" [syn: {elastic}, {flexible}, {pliable}]
3: capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking;
"a flexible wire"; "a pliant young tree" [syn: {bendable},
{pliable}]
4: capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; "ductile
copper"; "malleable metals such as gold"; "they soaked the
leather to made it pliable"; "pliant molten glass"; "made
of highly tensile steel alloy" [syn: {ductile}, {malleable},
{pliable}, {tensile}, {tractile}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.