(calmer, calmest, calms, calming, calmed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A calm person does not show or feel any worry, anger, or excitement.
She is usually a calm and diplomatic woman...
Try to keep calm and just tell me what happened...
She sighed, then continued in a soft, calm voice...
ADJ
•
Calm is also a noun.
He felt a sudden sense of calm, of contentment.
N-UNCOUNT: also a N
• calmly
Alan looked at him and said calmly, 'I don't believe you.'...
ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj
2.
If you calm someone, you do something to make them feel less angry, worried, or excited.
She was breathing quickly and tried to calm herself...
Some people say smoking calms your nerves.
VERB: V n, V n
• calming
...a fresh, cool fragrance which produces a very calming effect on the mind.
ADJ
3.
Calm is used to refer to a quiet, still, or peaceful atmosphere in a place.
...the rural calm of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
= peace
N-UNCOUNT
4.
If someone says that a place is calm, they mean that it is free from fighting or public disorder, when trouble has recently occurred there or had been expected. (JOURNALISM)
The city of Sarajevo appears relatively calm today.
= peaceful
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ
•
Calm is also a noun.
Community and church leaders have appealed for calm and no retaliation...
N-UNCOUNT: also a N
5.
To calm a situation means to reduce the amount of trouble, violence, or panic there is.
Mr Beazer tried to calm the protests by promising to keep the company's base in Pittsburgh.
VERB: V n
6.
If the sea or a lake is calm, the water is not moving very much and there are no big waves.
...as we slid into the calm waters of Cowes Harbour.
= still
? rough
ADJ
7.
Calm weather is pleasant weather with little or no wind.
Tuesday was a fine, clear and calm day.
ADJ
8.
In sailing, a flat calm or a dead calm is a condition of the sea or the weather in which there is very little wind or movement of the water. (TECHNICAL)
N-COUNT: usu supp N
9.
When the sea calms, it becomes still because the wind stops blowing strongly. When the wind calms, it stops blowing strongly.
Dawn came, the sea calmed but the cold was as bitter as ever.
VERB: V
10.
You can use the calm before the storm to refer to a quiet period in which there is little or no activity, before a period in which there is a lot of trouble or intense activity.
PHRASE