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Definition
reduce the intensity of or calm- They have tried to allay fears by saying their weapons are of a defensive nature.
allay = reduced the intensity of
- It does little to allay Israeli fears.
- He was in a panic of superstitious fear, and I am afraid the panic may spread. To allay it, I shall today search the entire ship carefully from stem to stern.Bram Stoker -- Dracula
- "Gentlemen," I said at last, as the party ascended the steps, "I delight to have allayed your suspicions."Edgar Allan Poe -- The Black Cat
- be moderate; allay thy ecstasy; In measure rain thy joy; scant this excess; I feel too much thy blessing; make it less, For fear I surfeit!William Shakespeare -- The Merchant of Venice
- Another put in a rider that the thirst then generated was such that even the time which had elapsed had not completely allayed it.Bram Stoker -- Dracula
- These were, I shortly found, connected almost solely with the dusty nature of the job, and the consequent thirst engendered in the operators. On my affording an opportunity, through the medium of the currency of the realm, of the allaying, at a later period, this beneficial evil, one of the men remarked, "That 'ere 'ouse, guv'nor, is the rummiest I ever was in."Bram Stoker -- Dracula
- He took the old man's right hand by the wrist and held it, to allay his fear.Homer -- The Iliad
- And even if he found nothing he would allay the unrest which gnawed at his heart.W. Somerset Maugham -- Of Human Bondage
- Amanda searched his face, expecting the worst, but her fears were allayed almost immediately by his air of exhausted satisfaction.Nicholas Sparks -- The Best of Me
- Her anxieties, that their life together is a temporary blessing, that soon it will come loose again in strips and tatters, are allayed.Khaled Hosseini -- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- It allays a feverish thirst that had parched me for many days.Nathaniel Hawthorne -- The Birthmark
- There was only one way to allay those fears and she knew what it was.Stephen King -- The Shining
- I exclaimed: and indeed there was something in the hasty and unexplanatory reply which, instead of allaying, piqued my curiosity more than ever.Charlotte Bronte -- Jane Eyre
- The other suspicion was allayed.Jack London -- White Fang
- But now I trust to God the term is come that my pain shall be allayed, that I shall pass out of this world so as it was promised me long ago.Thomas Malory -- Le Morte D'Arthur
- I knew that when Oliver and the National Executive read my memo, their fears that I had gone off the road would be allayed.Nelson Mandela -- Long Walk to Freedom
- The excitement of play, hot rooms, and glaring lights was not calculated to allay the fever of the time.Charles Dickens -- Nicholas Nickleby
- He started a diary in what appeared to be a frustrated attempt to allay and resolve his own doubts.Stieg Larsson -- The Girl Who Played with Fire
- She was bien souffrante, and she was filled with vague dread, which only her husband's presence could allay.Kate Chopin -- The Awakening
allay = reduce the intensity of
allay = reduce
allayed = reduced the intensity of or calmed
allay = reduce the intensity of or calm
allayed = satisfied (removed)
allaying = reduced the intensity of (in this case, of thirst)