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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Gratify \Grat"i*fy\, verb (used with an object) [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.
For who would die to gratify a foe? --Dryden.
2. To requite; to recompense. [Obs.]
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
gratify
verb
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
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