Flexible \Flex"i*ble\, a. [L. flexibilis: cf. F. flexible.]
1. Capable of being flexed or bent; admitting of being
turned, bowed, or twisted, without breaking; pliable;
yielding to pressure; not stiff or brittle.
[1913 Webster]
When the splitting wind
Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Willing or ready to yield to the influence of others; not
invincibly rigid or obstinate; tractable; manageable;
ductile; easy and compliant; wavering.
[1913 Webster]
Phocion was a man of great severity, and no ways
flexible to the will of the people. --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Capable or being adapted or molded; plastic,; as, a
flexible language.
[1913 Webster]
This was a principle more flexible to their purpose.
--Rogers.
Syn: Pliant; pliable; supple; tractable; manageable; ductile;
obsequious; inconstant; wavering. --
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
flexibleness
n : the property of being flexible [syn: flexibility] [ant: inflexibility]
WordNet (r) 2.0
|
|
|