Hi all,
Sharon, your question is a good one, and worth the couple of minutes I
spent making a file from dictionary.com The word you want is "mollify",
not "nullify". They do sound sort of alike, but they mean totally
different things. Here's the dictionary definition. It's much better
than what I could tell you.
Ann P.
3 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mollify \Mol"li*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Mollified}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Mollifying}.] [F. mollifier, L. mollificare; mollis
soft + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Enmollient}, {Moil},
v. t., and {-fy}.]
1. To soften; to make tender; to reduce the hardness,
harshness, or asperity of; to qualify; as, to mollify the
ground.
[1913 Webster]
With sweet science mollified their stubborn hearts.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. To assuage, as pain or irritation, to appease, as excited
feeling or passion; to pacify; to calm.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
mollify
v 1: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of;
"She managed to mollify the angry customer" [syn: {pacify},
{lenify}, {conciliate}, {assuage}, {appease}, {placate},
{gentle}, {gruntle}]
2: make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding
something else; moderate; "she tempered her criticism"
[syn: {temper}, {season}]
3: make less rigid or softer
[also: {mollified}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
89 Moby Thesaurus words for "mollify":
abate, allay, alleviate, anesthetize, appease, assuage, benumb,
calm, calm down, compose, conciliate, cool, cradle, cushion,
deaden, deaden the pain, decrease, defuse, diminish, dulcify, dull,
ease, ease matters, even out, fluff, foment, gentle, give relief,
hush, knead, laxate, lay, lay the dust, lessen, lighten, limber,
limber up, loosen, lull, mash, massage, mellow, milden, mitigate,
numb, pacify, pad, palliate, placate, plump, poultice,
pour balm into, pour balm on, pour oil on, propitiate, pulp, quell,
quiet, reduce, relax, relieve, rest, rock, rock to sleep, salve,
shake up, slacken, slake, smash, smooth, smooth down, smooth over,
smoothen, soften, soften up, soothe, squash, stabilize, steady,
still, stupe, subdue, supple, sweeten, temper, tenderize,
tone down, tranquilize, tune down
3 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Nullify \Nul"li*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Nullified}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Nullifying}.] [L. nullificare; nullus none + -ficare
(in comp.) to make. See {Null}, a., and {-fy}.]
To make void; to render invalid; to deprive of legal force or
efficacy.
[1913 Webster]
Such correspondence would at once nullify the
conditions of the probationary system. --I. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: To abrogate; revoke; annul; repeal; invalidate; cancel.
See {Abolish}.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
nullify
v 1: declare invalid; "The contract was annulled"; "void a plea"
[syn: {invalidate}, {annul}, {quash}, {void}, {avoid}]
[ant: {validate}]
2: show to be invalid [syn: {invalidate}] [ant: {validate}]
3: make ineffective by counterbalancing the effect of; "Her
optimism neutralizes his gloom"; "This action will negate
the effect of my efforts" [syn: {neutralize}, {neutralise},
{negate}]
[also: {nullified}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
86 Moby Thesaurus words for "nullify":
abate, abjure, abolish, abrogate, absolve, annihilate, annul,
assert the contrary, belie, bring to naught, bring to nothing,
buffer, cancel, cancel out, come to nothing, compensate, confine,
contest, contradict, contravene, controvert, counter, counteract,
counterbalance, countermand, counterorder, countervail, cross,
declare a moratorium, deny, disaffirm, disallow, disannul, disavow,
disclaim, disown, disprove, dispute, do away with, forswear,
frustrate, gainsay, impugn, invalidate, join issue upon, limit,
make void, negate, negativate, negative, neutralize, not accept,
not admit, obliterate, offset, oppose, override, overrule, quash,
recall, recant, refuse to admit, refute, renege, renounce, repeal,
repudiate, rescind, restrict, retract, reverse, revoke, set aside,
stultify, suspend, take back, take issue with, thwart, undo,
vacate, vitiate, void, waive, wipe out, withdraw, write off
--
Ann K. Parsons
Portal Tutoring
EMAIL: akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.portaltutoring.info
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