flatter vb.1:
1.
to try to please by obsequious
speech or conduct
AYL. IV. i. 194
“that f-ing tongue of
yours,”
R2 II. i. 87
“I mock my name, great
king, to
thee”
; also intr. “ with”
R2 II. i. 88
“Should dying men with
those that live?.”
2.
to gratify the vanity
or self-esteem of
Cæs. II. i. 208
“when I tell him he
hates f-ers, He says he does, being then
most flattered.”
3.
to encourage with
hopeful or pleasing representations
Shr. Ind. i. 44
“a f-ing dream,”
2H4 I. iii. 29
“F-ing himself
with”
(Q “in) project of a
power Much smaller than the smallest of his
thoughts,”
Ven. 989
“hope . . . doth thee in
thoughts unlikely”
; also intr. “ with”
Gent. IV. iv. 195
“Unless I with myself too
much,”
Tw.N. I. v. 324
“not to with his lord,
Nor hold him up with hopes.”
4.
to please with the
belief or suggestion “that”
Ven. 978.
5.
to represent too
favourably
Gent. IV. iv. 194
“the painter f-'d her a
little,”
John II. i. 503
“Drawn in the flattering
table of her eye.”
6.
“flatter up,” pamper,
coddle LLL. V. ii. 822.
