Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - quiet

(quieter, quietest, quiets, quieting, quieted) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Someone or something that is quiet makes only a small amount of noise. Tania kept the children reasonably quiet and contented... A quiet murmur passed through the classroom... The airlines have invested enormous sums in new, quieter aircraft. ? noisy ADJ • quietly ‘This is goodbye, isn’t it?’ she said quietly... ADV: ADV with v • quietness ...the smoothness and quietness of the flight. N-UNCOUNT 2. If a place is quiet, there is very little noise there. She was received in a small, quiet office... The street was unnaturally quiet. ? noisy ADJ • quietness I miss the quietness of the countryside. N-UNCOUNT 3. If a place, situation, or time is quiet, there is no excitement, activity, or trouble. It is very quiet without him... While he wanted Los Angeles and partying, she wanted a quiet life... ADJ • quietly His most prized time, though, will be spent quietly on his farm. ADV: ADV with v • quietness I do very much appreciate the quietness and privacy here. N-UNCOUNT 4. Quiet is silence. He called for quiet and announced that the next song was in our honor... N-UNCOUNT 5. If you are quiet, you are not saying anything. I told them to be quiet and go to sleep... ADJ: v-link ADJ • quietly Amy stood quietly in the doorway watching him. ADV: ADV with v 6. If you refer, for example, to someone’s quiet confidence or quiet despair, you mean that they do not say much about the way they are feeling. He has a quiet confidence in his ability... ADJ: ADJ n • quietly Nigel Deering, the publisher, is quietly confident about the magazine’s chances. ADV: ADV adj 7. You describe activities as quiet when they happen in secret or in such a way that people do not notice them. The Swedes had sought his freedom through quiet diplomacy... ADJ: ADJ n • quietly I slipped away quietly... The goal of shifting freight from road to rail has been quietly abandoned... ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj 8. A quiet person behaves in a calm way and is not easily made angry or upset. He’s a nice quiet man. = placid ADJ 9. If someone or something quiets or if you quiet them, they become less noisy, less active, or silent. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use quieten) The wind dropped and the sea quieted... Estela started to say something but a gesture from her husband quieted her at once. VERB: V, V n 10. To quiet fears or complaints means to persuade people that there is no good reason for them. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use quieten) Music seemed to quiet her anxiety and loneliness. VERB: V n 11. If someone does not go quietly, they do not leave a particular job or a place without complaining or resisting. She’s not going to go quietly. PHRASE: V inflects 12. If you keep quiet about something or keep something quiet, you do not say anything about it. I told her to keep quiet about it... PHRASE: V inflects 13. If something is done on the quiet, it is done secretly or in such a way that people do not notice it. She’d promised to give him driving lessons, on the quiet, when no one could see. PHRASE: PHR after v