pliancy
(ˈplaɪənsɪ)
[f. pliant a. : see -ancy.]
The quality of being pliant; flexibility. a. Of material things: see pliant a. 1.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 115 ¶5 Giving such an Activity to the Limbs, and such a Pliancy to every Part. 1787 Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 97 The difficulty was..to give to old wood the pliancy of young. 1835 James Gispy ii, The agile pliancy of youth. |
b. fig. Of the mind, etc.: see pliant a. 2.
| 1789 Bp. Watson Anecd. (1817) 225 To be overlooked for want of political pliancy, is a circumstance I need not blush to own. 1810 Foster in Life & Corr. (1846) I. 424 Social dexterity and pliancy of mind. 1879 B. Taylor Stud. Germ. Lit. 210 A very little tact and pliancy of nature might have greatly advanced his fortunes. |