sod•o•mite /'sɒdəmaɪtˈsɒɪ-/ n•old•fash•a person practising sodomy
sod•o•my /'sɒdəmiːl/ saː-/ n [U] fml or law any of various sexual acts other than the usual sexual act between a man and a woman, especially the putting of the male sex organ into the ANUS of, especially, another male
'Sod's 'law, sod's law BrE | also Murphy's Law especially AmE — n [U] humor the natural tendency for things to go wrong if it is possible for them to go wrong: According to Sod's law, if you drop a piece of bread and butter, it will land butter-side down.
so·fa /'səʊfə/ n a comfortable seat with raised arms and a back, wide enough for usually two or three people; SETTEE: Sit on the sofa.
'sofa bed n a sofa which can be changed into a bed
So-fi-a /'səʊfiə/ the capital city of BULGARIA
soft /soft//soft/ adj 1 not firm against pressure; not hard or stiff: His foot sank slightly into the soft ground. | a soft chair/bed 2 less hard than average: Lead is one of the softer metals. | soft cheese 3 pleasantly smooth and delicate to the touch; not rough: a baby's soft skin 4 quiet; not making much noise; not loud: a whisper so soft I could hardly hear 5 restful and pleasant to the senses, especially the eyes: Soft lights and sweet music create a romantic atmosphere. | The room was decorated in soft pastel colours. → opposite HARSH 6 with little force; light; gentle: Give it a soft tap with the hammer. | a soft breeze 7 infml, often derog not needing hard work; easy: He's got a pretty soft job in the ministry. → see also SOFT OPTION 8 [(with)] too kind; not severe enough: I think the courts are too soft with these young offenders. | You big soft thing! Why did you agree to help them when you know you can't afford the time? → opposite HARD (on); see also SOFTY 9 [(on)] not showing (enough) firmness in opposing or dealing with something: The government was accused of taking a soft line (=not being firm enough) with the unions. | His political enemies said he was soft on Communism. 10 not in good bodily condition; weak; FLABBY: He'd got soft after all those years in a desk job. 11 infml dealing with opinions, ideas etc, rather than numbers and facts: Psychology would be regarded as one of the soft sciences. 12 [A] not of the worst, most harmful etc, kind: soft porn | Cannabis is a soft drug. → opposite HARD 13 not tech (in English pronunciation) a) (of the letter c) having the sound /s/ and not /k/: The c in acid is soft. b) (of the letter g) having the sound /dʒ/ and not /g/: The g in age is soft. → opposite HARD 14 (of water) free from certain minerals; allowing soap to LATHER (=form a white mass) easily: We're lucky that the local water is quite soft. → opposite HARD; see also WATER SOFTENER 15 infml, especially NEngE foolish 16 be soft on someone infml to be very attracted to someone sexually → see also SOFT SPOT 17 soft in the head infml foolish; mad —ly adv: Music played softly in the background. | She stroked his hair softly. | A breeze blew softly across the lake. —ness n [U]
soft-ball /'softbɔːl/ sɒft-/ n [U] a game similar to BASEBALL but played on a smaller field with a slightly larger and softer ball, usually by girls or women or by groups of men and woman together
,soft-'boiled adj (of an egg) boiled not long enough for the YOLK to become solid, i.e. for between about three and five minutes → compare HARD-BOILED
'soft ,copy n [U] tech information stored in a computer's memory or shown on a SCREEN rather than in printed form
→ compare HARD COPY
'soft,cover n [C,U] AmE a PAPERBACK
'soft drink n a drink which contains no alcohol and is served cold
soft·en /'sɒfənl|'sɒ:-/ v [|;T(UP)] to (cause to) become soft(er), gentle, less stiff, or less severe: The ice cream softened and began to melt. | His voice softened sympathetically. | The government's attitude on this question has softened recently. | a cream for softening dry skin | He told her the bad news very gently, trying to soften the blow. → opposite HARDEN
soften sbdy./sthg. ⇔ up phr v [T] 1 to weaken (an enemy's defences) before an attack, e.g. by bombing 2 infml to break down the opposition of; prepare for PERSUASION: You'll have to soften her up before you ask for a pay rise!
soft·ner /'sɒfənər/ n 1 something that breaks down someone's possible opposition to an idea or request before they are told about it 2 infml for a WATER SOFTENER
soft 'focus n [U] an arrangement of the LENS in usually a camera so that the lines of the object to be photographed are not clear. It is thought that photographs taken in this way make things look more ROMANTIC: All these photos of brides have been taken in soft focus.
,soft 'fruit n [C;U] especially BrE a small eatable fruit that has no hard skin or hard inside seed: Strawberries and raspberries are soft fruit(s).
,soft 'furnishings n [P] especially BrE (the materials used to make) curtains, mats, seat covers etc, used in decorating a room
soft-headed adj stupid; silly — soft-head n
soft-heart·ed /,soft'haɪtʃd·‖,soft'haɪr-/ adj having tender feelings; easily moved to pity; quick to forgive —ness n [U]
soft-ie /'softi|'so:f-/ n infm/ a SOFTY
soft 'landing n a slow coming down of a spacecraft to Earth, the moon etc, without damage
softly-softly adj slow and careful: He's very nervous so we'll have to try a softly-softly approach.
'soft 'margarine n [U] a food tasting rather like butter, but made mainly from vegetable fats. It always stays soft, even when it is cold.
soft 'option n BrE often derog an easier thing; a course of action that will give one less trouble: Faced with such strong opposition, he took the soft option and gave in to most of their demands. | Don't imagine that computer studies is a soft option; it's quite a tough course.
,soft 'palate n the soft back part of the top of the mouth → compare HARD PALATE
, soft-'pedal v -II- BrE || -I- AmE [T] infml to make (a subject, fact, suggestion etc) seem unimportant; PLAY down: The council are soft-pedalling their housing policy until the local elections.
'soft 'porn n [U] magazines, pictures etc, that are considered to be only slightly PORNOGRAPHIC. They are regarded as TASTELESS but harmless by many British and US people, although an increasing number of people do not like women being shown in this way. → compare HARD PORN
,soft 'sell n [(the) S] selling by suggestion or gentle persuading of buyers → opposite HARD SELL
,soft 'soap n [U] infml saying nice' things about people, especially as a way of getting something one wants from them; FLATTERY
'soft-soap v [T(into)] infml to persuade or make calmer, less angry etc, by saying nice things: She soft-soaped him into agreeing to help her.
,soft-'spoken adj apprec having a gentle quiet voice
'soft spot n [S (for)] infml a 'feeling of special kindness or liking; fondness: He's a bit of a rogue, but I've got a soft spot for him.
'soft-top n a car with a cloth roof that you can fold back or remove → compare CONVERTIBLE; opposite HARDTOP
soft 'touch n infml someone from whom it is easy to get what one wants, especially money or help, because they are kind, easily deceived etc
soft 'toy n BrE a toy for young children made of cloth and filled with soft material; stuffed animal AmE
soft-ware /'softweər/ sɒ:ft-/ n [U] tech the set of systems (in the form of PROGRAMs rather than machine parts) which is stored on MAGNETIC TAPE or DISK and controls the operation of a computer: Can you load the new software for me? | a software package | word processing/spreadsheet software → compare FIRMWARE, HARDWARE
soft·wood /'softwʊdˈsɒft-/ n 1 [U] wood from EVERGREEN trees such as PINE and FIR that is cheap and easy to-cut 2 [C] a tree that has wood of this type → compare HARDWOOD
soft-y, softie /'softiːl'so:fti/ n infml 1 a person who is easily moved to pity or who is SENTIMENTAL 2 a weak or very easily persuaded person
sog·gy /'sogɪl'saːɡi/ adj completely wet; heavy and usually unpleasant with wetness: The ground was soggy after the heavy rain. | They served up some rather soggy tomato sandwiches. —gily adv —giness n [U]