becalm, v.
(bɪˈkɑːm)
[f. be- 2 + calm v.]
1. trans. To make calm or still; to calm, quiet; fig. to assuage, mitigate, soothe, tranquillize.
| 1613 Bp. Hall Holy Panegyr. 77 He..hath becalmed the world, and shut the iron gates of warre. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 38 Thou becalm'st Mind's easeless anguish. 1718 Pope Odyss. iv. 515 What power becalms the innavigable seas? 1873 W. S. Mayo Never Again xxxii. 417 Thy medic touch becalms my throbbing brow. |
2. Naut. To shelter from, or deprive (a ship) of, wind; usually in pass. to be becalmed: to lie motionless for want of wind.
| 1595 T. Maynarde Drake's Voy. (1849) 8 Being becalmed under the lee of the land. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiii. 62 To martiall..those squadrons..a good berth or distance from each other, that they becalme not one another. 1704 in Lond. Gaz. No. 4033/1 The Charles Gally..being becalmed, was attacked. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 1 The fleet was becalmed off the Godwin Sands. |
b. fig.
| 1559 Mirr. Mag. 196 (R.) I and mine becalm'd from hatred's blast. 1672 Dryden Conq. Granada i. v. i. 88 'Twas Life becalm'd, without a gentle Breath. |