dictionary definitions for "flexible"


From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:

  flexible
      adj 1: extended meanings; capable of change; "a flexible
             character"; "flexible schedules" [ant: inflexible]
      2: able to flex; able to bend easily; "slim flexible birches"
         [syn: flexile] [ant: inflexible]
      3: able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an
         adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic
         clause in a contract" [syn: elastic, pliable,
         pliant]
      4: bending and snapping back readily without breaking
      5: making or willing to make concessions; "loneliness tore
         through him...whenever he thought of...even the
         compromising Louis du Tillet" [syn: compromising,
         conciliatory] [ant: uncompromising]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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. -- Flex"i*ble*ness,
          n. -- Flex"i*bly, adv.
          [1913 Webster]


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