Tame \Tame\, v. t. [Cf. F. entamer to cut into, to broach.]
To broach or enter upon; to taste, as a liquor; to divide; to
distribute; to deal out. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
[1913 Webster]
In the time of famine he is the Joseph of the country,
and keeps the poor from starving. Then he tameth his
stacks of corn, which not his covetousness, but
providence, hath reserved for time of need. --Fuller.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tame \Tame\, a. [Compar. Tamer; superl. Tamest.] [AS. tam;
akin to D. tam, G. zahm, OHG. zam, Dan. & Sw. tam, Icel.
tamr, L. domare to tame, Gr. ?, Skr. dam to be tame, to tame,
and perhaps to E. beteem. [root]61. Cf. Adamant, Diamond,
Dame, Daunt, Indomitable.]
1. Reduced from a state of native wildness and shyness;
accustomed to man; domesticated; domestic; as, a tame
deer, a tame bird.
[1913 Webster]
2. Crushed; subdued; depressed; spiritless.
[1913 Webster]
Tame slaves of the laborious plow. --Roscommon.
[1913 Webster]
3. Deficient in spirit or animation; spiritless; dull; flat;
insipid; as, a tame poem; tame scenery.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Gentle; mild; meek. See Gentle.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tame \Tame\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tamed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Taming.] [AS. tamian, temian, akin to D. tammen, temmen, G.
z[aum]hmen, OHG. zemmen, Icel. temja, Goth. gatamjan. See
Tame, a.]
1. To reduce from a wild to a domestic state; to make gentle
and familiar; to reclaim; to domesticate; as, to tame a
wild beast.
[1913 Webster]
They had not been tamed into submission, but baited
into savegeness and stubbornness. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. To subdue; to conquer; to repress; as, to tame the pride
or passions of youth.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
tame
adj 1: flat and uninspiring
2: very restrained or quiet; "a tame Christmas party"; "she was
one of the tamest and most abject creatures imaginable
with no will or power to act but as directed" [ant: wild]
3: brought from wildness into a domesticated state; "tame
animals"; "fields of tame blueberries" [syn: tamed]
[ant: wild]
4: very docile; "tame obedience"; "meek as a mouse"- Langston
Hughes [syn: meek]
v 1: correct by punishment or discipline [syn: chasten, subdue]
2: make less strong or intense; soften; "Tone down that
aggressive letter"; "The author finally tamed some of his
potentially offensive statements" [syn: tone down, moderate]
3: adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment;
"domesticate oats"; "tame the soil" [syn: domesticate, cultivate,
naturalize, naturalise]
4: overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable; "He
tames lions for the circus"; "reclaim falcons" [syn: domesticate,
domesticize, domesticise, reclaim]
5: make fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to
humans; "The horse was domesticated a long time ago"; "The
wolf was tamed and evolved into the house dog" [syn: domesticate]
WordNet (r) 2.0
202 Moby Thesaurus words for "tame":
abate, abeyant, acclimate, acclimatize, accommodate, accustom,
adapt, adjust, allay, alleviate, amenable, apathetic, assuage,
attemper, bank the fire, bed, bed down, biddable, bland, blunt,
boring, break, break in, break to harness, bridle, broken, brush,
bust, busted, calm, case harden, cataleptic, catatonic, chasten,
chastened, compliant, condition, confirm, constrain, control,
cowardly, curb, curry, currycomb, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, dead,
deaden, diminish, disciplined, docile, domestic, domesticate,
domesticated, domesticize, domiciliate, dopey, dormant, dovelike,
downplay, drench, dull, establish, extenuate, familiarize,
fearless, feeble, feed, fix, flat, fodder, foul, gentle, groggy,
groom, habituate, handle, harden, harness, heavy, hitch,
house-train, housebreak, housebroken, humble, humdrum, in abeyance,
in suspense, inactive, ineffectual, inert, insipid, inure,
judicious, keep within bounds, lamblike, languid, languorous,
latent, lay, leaden, lenify, lessen, lifeless, lighten,
lily-livered, litter, logy, manage, master, meek, mild,
mild as milk, milk, mitigate, moderate, modulate, mollify, mute,
naturalize, nonviolent, obedient, obtund, ordinary, orient,
orientate, pacific, pacifistic, pacify, palliate, passive,
peaceable, peaceful, phlegmatic, play down, pliable, pliant,
prosaic, prudent, pusillanimous, quiet, reduce,
reduce the temperature, restrain, rub down, run-of-the-mill,
saddle, season, sedentary, slack, slacken, sleeping, slow down,
sluggish, slumbering, smoldering, smother, sober, sober down, soft,
soften, stagnant, standing, static, stifle, subdue, subdued,
subjugate, submissive, suppress, suppressed, suspended, tamed,
tedious, temper, temperate, tend, timid, timorous, tiresome,
tone down, torpid, tractable, train, trained, tune down, unafraid,
unaroused, unassertive, underplay, unexciting, uninspired,
uninteresting, vapid, water, weaken, white-livered, wishy-washy,
wont, yellow, yoke
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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