Gratify

3 definitions found

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

  Gratify \Grat"i*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Gratified}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Gratifying}.] [F. gratifier, L. gratificari; gratus
     pleasing + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {-fy}.]
     1. To please; to give pleasure to; to satisfy; to soothe; to
        indulge; as, to gratify the taste, the appetite, the
        senses, the desires, the mind, etc.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              For who would die to gratify a foe?   --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To requite; to recompense. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It remains . . .
              To gratify his noble service.         --Shak.
  
     Syn: To indulge; humor please; delight; requite; recompense.
  
     Usage: To {Gratify}, {Indulge}, {Humor.} Gratify, is the
            generic term, and has reference simply to the pleasure
            communicated. To indulge a person implies that we
            concede something to his wishes or his weaknesses
            which he could not claim, and which had better,
            perhaps, be spared. To humor is to adapt ourselves to
            the varying moods, and, perhaps, caprices, of others.
            We gratify a child by showing him the sights of a
            large city; we indulge him in some extra expense on
            such an occasion; we humor him when he is tired and
            exacting.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  gratify
       v 1: make happy or satisfied [syn: {satisfy}] [ant: {dissatisfy}]
       2: yield (to); give satisfaction to [syn: {pander}, {indulge}]
       [also: {gratified}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  56 Moby Thesaurus words for "gratify":
     achieve inner harmony, allay, appease, assuage, baby, board, bread,
     cater to, cheer, coddle, compensate, content, cosset, delectate,
     delight, dine, do proud, elate, favor, feast, feed, flush, fodder,
     forage, give way to, gladden, grass, graze, happify, humor,
     indulge, make proud, meat, mess, mollycoddle, oblige, pamper,
     pasture, please, pleasure, provision, put at ease, quench,
     recompense, regale, requite, reward, sate, satiate, satisfy,
     set at ease, slake, spoil, sustain, wine and dine, yield to