TAME

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tame mean? 

• TAME (adjective)
  The adjective TAME has 4 senses:

1. flat and uninspiring

2. very restrained or quiet

3. brought from wildness into a domesticated state

4. very docile

  Familiarity information: TAME used as an adjective is uncommon.

• TAME (verb)
  The verb TAME has 5 senses:

1. correct by punishment or discipline

2. make less strong or intense; soften

3. adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment

4. overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable

5. make fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to humans

  Familiarity information: TAME used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TAME (adjective)

Comparative: tamer   
Superlative: tamest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Flat and uninspiring

Similar:

unexciting (not exciting)

Derivation:

tameness (the quality of being vapid and unsophisticated)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Very restrained or quiet

Context example:

she was one of the tamest and most abject creatures imaginable with no will or power to act but as directed

Similar:

subdued (quieted and brought under control)

Also:

quiet (characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity)

Antonym:

wild (marked by extreme lack of restraint or control)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Brought from wildness into a domesticated state

Synonyms:

tame; tamed

Context example:

fields of tame blueberries

Similar:

broken; broken in (tamed or trained to obey)

cultivated (no longer in the natural state; developed by human care and for human use)

docile; gentle (easily handled or managed)

domestic; domesticated (converted or adapted to domestic use)

tamed (brought from wildness)

Also:

manipulable; tractable (easily managed (controlled or taught or molded))

Attribute:

domestication; tameness (the attribute of having been domesticated)

Antonym:

wild (in a natural state; not tamed or domesticated or cultivated)

Derivation:

tameness (the attribute of having been domesticated)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Very docile

Synonyms:

meek; tame

Context example:

meek as a mouse

Similar:

docile (willing to be taught or led or supervised or directed)

Derivation:

tameness (the attribute of having been domesticated)

• TAME (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tame    ... he / she / it tames   
Past simple: tamed   
Past participle: tamed   
-ing form: taming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Correct by punishment or discipline

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

chasten; subdue; tame

Hypernyms (to "tame" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make less strong or intense; soften

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

moderate; tame; tone down

Context example:

The author finally tamed some of his potentially offensive statements

Hypernyms (to "tame" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

cultivate; domesticate; naturalise; naturalize; tame

Context example:

tame the soil

Hypernyms (to "tame" is one way to...):

accommodate; adapt (make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose)

Domain category:

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

domesticate; domesticise; domesticize; reclaim; tame

Context example:

reclaim falcons

Hypernyms (to "tame" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Verb group:

domesticate; tame (make fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to humans)

Domain category:

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tame"):

break; break in (make submissive, obedient, or useful)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

tamable; tameable (capable of being tamed)

tamer (an animal trainer who tames wild animals)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to humans

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

domesticate; tame

Context example:

The wolf was tamed and evolved into the house dog

Hypernyms (to "tame" is one way to...):

accommodate; adapt (make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose)

Verb group:

domesticate; domesticise; domesticize; reclaim; tame (overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable)

Domain category:

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

See, Jo, how tame it is.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And why, now, was he so tame under the violence or treachery done him?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"Is he tame?" asked the woman, opening the door a little wider.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Wolf or dog, it's all the same—he's ben tamed 'ready.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Oh! mama, how spiritless, how tame was Edward's manner in reading to us last night!

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

He has managed to get a sparrow, and has already partially tamed it.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Likewise she was stirred by the common impulse to tame the wild thing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

His had softened during the many generations since the day his last wild ancestor was tamed by a cave-dweller or river man.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I have tamed that savage stenographic mystery.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Some day you may find that you are flying your own flag, and when that time comes you may remember that my advice to an officer is that he should have nothing to do with tame, slow measures.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)