flexible


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flex·i·ble

 (flĕk′sə-bəl)
adj.
1.
a. Capable of being bent or flexed; pliable: a flexible hose.
b. Readily bending or twisting the body without injury: You can play soccer much better if you're flexible.
2. Able to change to cope with variable circumstances: "a flexible and quietly competent administrator" (Jerome Karabel).
3. Capable of being changed or adjusted to meet particular or varied needs: a job with flexible hours; a flexible definition of normality.

[From Latin flexibilis, from flexus, past participle of flectere, to bend.]

flex′i·bil′i·ty, flex′i·ble·ness n.
flex′i·bly adv.
Synonyms: flexible, elastic, resilient, supple
These adjectives refer literally to what is capable of withstanding stress without damage and figuratively to what can undergo change or modification: a flexible wire; flexible plans; an elastic rubber band; an elastic interpretation of the law; thin, resilient copper; a resilient temperament; supple suede; a supple mind.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

flexible

(ˈflɛksɪbəl)
adj
1. Also: flexile able to be bent easily without breaking; pliable
2. adaptable or variable: flexible working hours.
3. able to be persuaded easily; tractable
ˌflexiˈbility, ˈflexibleness n
ˈflexibly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

flex•i•ble

(ˈflɛk sə bəl)

adj.
1. capable of being bent, usu. without breaking; easily bent.
2. susceptible of modification or adaptation; adaptable: a flexible schedule.
3. willing or disposed to yield; pliable; tractable: a flexible personality.
[1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin flexibilis. See flex1, -ible]
flex`i•bil′i•ty, flex′i•ble•ness, n.
flex′i•bly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.flexible - capable of being changed; "flexible schedules"
inflexible - incapable of change; "a man of inflexible purpose"
2.flexible - able to flex; able to bend easily; "slim flexible birches"
elastic - capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression; springy; "an elastic band"; "a youthful and elastic walk"
inflexible - resistant to being bent; "an inflexible iron bar"; "an inflexible knife blade";
3.flexible - able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic clause in a contract"
adaptable - capable of adapting (of becoming or being made suitable) to a particular situation or use; "to succeed one must be adaptable"; "the frame was adaptable to cloth bolts of different widths"
4.flexible - bending and snapping back readily without breaking
elastic - capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression; springy; "an elastic band"; "a youthful and elastic walk"
5.flexible - making or willing to make concessions; "loneliness tore through him...whenever he thought of...even the compromising Louis du Tillet"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

flexible

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

flexible

adjective
1. Capable of being shaped, bent, or drawn out, as by hammering or pressure:
2. Capable of withstanding stress without injury:
Physics: plastic.
4. Capable of adapting or being adapted:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
مَرِنقابِل للإلْتِواء
ohebnýpružnýpřizpůsobivý
fleksibelbøjelig
flexiblejoustavamaléabletaipuisa
savitljiv
alkalmazkodóhajlékonyrugalmas
sveigjanlegur
曲げやすい
구부릴 수 있는
prilagodljivupogljiv
böjlig
ยืดหดได้
esnekdeğişebilir
linh hoạt

flexible

[ˈfleksəbl] ADJ (lit, fig) → flexible
we have to be flexible about thistenemos que ser flexibles en este asunto
we have flexible (working) hourstenemos un horario de trabajo flexible
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

flexible

[ˈflɛksɪbəl] adj
[material, object] → flexible
(= adaptable) [person] → flexible
[schedule] → flexible; [system, arrangement] → flexible
flexible working hours → horaires flexibles
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

flexible

adj
(lit) material, object, limbs, joints, bodybiegsam, elastisch; flexible coupling (Tech) → elastisches Gelenk
(fig) person, approach, attitude, timetable, systemflexibel; engineelastisch; flexible working hoursgleitende Arbeitszeit, Gleitzeit f; to work flexible hoursgleitende Arbeitszeit haben, Gleitzeit arbeiten; to be flexible in one’s approacheine flexible Einstellung haben; to be flexible about somethingin Bezug auf etw (acc)flexibel sein
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

flexible

[ˈflɛksɪbl] adjflessibile
flexible working hours → orario di lavoro flessibile
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

flex

(fleks) verb
to bend, especially in order to test. to flex one's muscles.
noun
(a piece of) thin insulated wire for carrying electricity. That lamp has a long flex.
ˈflexible adjective
1. that can be bent easily. flexible metal.
2. able or willing to change according to circumstances etc. My holiday plans are very flexible.
ˌflexiˈbility noun
ˈflexitime noun
a system where employees may choose their own working hours.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

flexible

مَرِن pružný fleksibel biegsam εύκαμπτος flexible taipuisa flexible savitljiv flessibile 曲げやすい 구부릴 수 있는 flexibel fleksibel elastyczny flexível гибкий böjlig ยืดหดได้ esnek linh hoạt 灵活的
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

flexible

adj flexible
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
They viciously snapped, not only at each other's disembowelments, but like flexible bows, bent round, and bit their own; till those entrails seemed swallowed over and over again by the same mouth, to be oppositely voided by the gaping wound.
Let parents choose betimes, the vocations and courses they mean their children should take; for then they are most flexible; and let them not too much apply themselves to the disposition of their children, as thinking they will take best to that, which they have most mind to.
The famous little Becky Puppet has been pronounced to be uncommonly flexible in the joints, and lively on the wire; the Amelia Doll, though it has had a smaller circle of admirers, has yet been carved and dressed with the greatest care by the artist; the Dobbin Figure, though apparently clumsy, yet dances in a very amusing and natural manner; the Little Boys' Dance has been liked by some; and please to remark the richly dressed figure of the Wicked Nobleman, on which no expense has been spared, and which Old Nick will fetch away at the end of this singular performance.
The other I found more flexible, and wrought upon him so far that he came to my tent to be instructed.
True, from the unmarred dead body of the whale, you may scrape off with your hand an infinitely thin, transparent substance, somewhat resembling the thinnest shreds of isinglass, only it is almost as flexible and soft as satin; that is, previous to being dried, when it not only contracts and thickens, but becomes rather hard and brittle.
She has the flexible face, the manageable voice, and the dramatic knack which fit a woman for character-parts and disguises on the stage.
Some of these tapers are eight or ten feet in length; but being perfectly flexible, one end is held in a coil, while the other is lighted.
Gnarled and crooked and with flexible hardness shall it then stand by the sea, a living lighthouse of unconquerable life.
First you wrap a layer or two of blanket around your body, for a sort of cushion and to keep off the cold iron; then you put on your sleeves and shirt of chain mail -- these are made of small steel links woven together, and they form a fabric so flexible that if you toss your shirt onto the floor, it slumps into a pile like a peck of wet fish-net; it is very heavy and is nearly the uncomfortablest material in the world for a night shirt, yet plenty used it for that -- tax collectors, and reformers, and one-horse kings with a defective title, and those sorts of people; then you put on your shoes -- flat-boats roofed over with interleaving bands of steel -- and screw your clumsy spurs into the heels.
He was, in a word, a man of the most in- flexible firmness and stone-like coolness.
Haidee was reclining upon soft downy cushions, covered with blue satin spotted with silver; her head, supported by one of her exquisitely moulded arms, rested on the divan immediately behind her, while the other was employed in adjusting to her lips the coral tube of a rich narghile, through whose flexible pipe she drew the smoke fragrant by its passage through perfumed water.
The stems or trunks of this vine are tougher and more flexible than willow, and are from fifty to one hundred fathoms in length.

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