ease in

1. verb To enter something very gently and gradually. I eased in to the bath, letting my skin acclimate to the hot water. A: "Would you get in the car already?" B: "I have to ease in because my muscles are so sore from yesterday's football practice!" I tried to ease in to the lake, but the water was freezing!

2. verb To move or maneuver someone or something into something else very gently and gradually. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "ease" and "in." The substance is highly reactive with this solution, so we'll have to ease it in extremely carefully. I prepared the bath and eased in the patient. Ease each ingredient in and be careful with the mixer—otherwise, you'll have a mess on your hands.

3. verb To become gently introduced or accustomed to something new, such as a job or situation. I was really stressed about beginning a job I was so unfamiliar with, but my boss assured me I would have plenty of time to ease in. I didn't get a lot of time to ease in—we moved to our new town two weeks before school started. Our French teacher promised us that we would ease in with harder stuff, like verb conjugations.

4. verb To introduce or accustom someone very gently and gradually to a new situation, condition, or circumstance. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "ease" and "in." Your grandfather has lived in the same home for over 60 years, so we have to be sure we ease him in. My tactic has always been to present Mom and Dad with all the "bad" things I'm not doing, like drugging and drinking, to ease them in for the thing I want to do. A: "The kids are not going to want to move and leave all their friends behind." B: "No, of course not, so we'll ease them in."

5. verb In animation, to decrease the space between the frames of an animated object to indicate its deceleration. Also referred to as "slowing in." Remember to ease in when you animate something coming to a stop. The more frames you include, the smoother the stop will appear. What are you guys even learning in this animation class? Do you know how to ease in yet? If you ease in here, it will be clear that the ball is slowing down.

6. noun An instance of such an animation technique. Often hyphenated. We squash the character slightly during the ease-in to indicate the force of the sudden stop. There should be some overlap on the ease-in as your character comes on-screen. Ah, it doesn't look right because you need to decrease the space between frames on the ease-in.