But the driftwood merely softened to the texture of cheese, retaining the flavor of driftwood.

It did not abolish the memory but merely softened its edges, as if the tragedy had happened long, long ago.

The softly pleated nightdress reached the floor, but did nothing to hide what was beneath it, merely softening her body into a vision of beauty beyond anything he could have imagined.

If the solder merely softens, the metal is not yet hot enough, and so move the solder away from the joint and apply more heat.

The fact that he was popular with the media didn't deter his enemies; it merely softened their strategy.

But the Security Council is waiting to see if the Bush administration merely softened its tactics for this negotiation, or whether it changed its goals, opening the possibility that Mr. Hussein could stay in power if he gives up all his illegal weapons.

Of bubbles itself, it merely softened the outlines as bubbles do.

Sometimes it merely softens, stretches, melts, so it can be shaped and molded like-" My sick stomach heaved, and I said, "In the name of pity.

If the solder merely softens, the metal is not hot enough.

The term "reflow" is used to refer to the temperature above which a solid mass of solder alloy is certain to melt (as opposed to merely soften).