a. [ OE. souple, F. souple, from L. supplex suppliant, perhaps originally, being the knees. Cf. Supplicate. ] 1. Pliant; flexible; easily bent; as, supple joints; supple fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Yielding; compliant; not obstinate; submissive to guidance; as, a supple horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

If punishment . . . makes not the will supple, it hardens the offender. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Bending to the humor of others; flattering; fawning; obsequious. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Pliant; flexible; yielding; compliant; bending; flattering; fawning; soft. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Suppled p. pr. & vb. n. Suppling ] 1. To make soft and pliant; to render flexible; as, to supple leather. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flesh therewith she suppled and did steep. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make compliant, submissive, or obedient. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mother persisting till she had bent her daughter's mind and suppled her will. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

They should supple our stiff willfulness. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become soft and pliant. [ 1913 Webster ]

The stones . . .
Suppled into softness as they fell. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a limber tongue. [ R. ] “A supple-chapped flatterer.” Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) (a) A climbing shrub (Berchemia volubilus) of the Southern United States, having a tough and pliable stem. (b) A somewhat similar tropical American plant (Paullinia Curassavica); also, a walking stick made from its stem. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was in form and spirit like a supple-jack, . . . yielding, but tough; though he bent, he never broke. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This name is given to various plants of similar habit in different British colonies. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a supple manner; softly; pliantly; mildly. Cotgrave. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Supplemented; p. pr. & vb. n. Supplementing. ] To fill up or supply by addition; to add something to. [ 1913 Webster ]

Causes of one kind must be supplemented by bringing to bear upon them a causation of another kind. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. supplément, L. supplementum, fr. supplere to fill up. See Supply, v. t. ] 1. That which supplies a deficiency, or meets a want; a store; a supply. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which fills up, completes, or makes an addition to, something already organized, arranged, or set apart; specifically, a part added to, or issued as a continuation of, a book or paper, to make good its deficiencies or correct its errors. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Trig.) The number of degrees which, if added to a specified arc, make it 180°; the quantity by which an arc or an angle falls short of 180 degrees, or an arc falls short of a semicircle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Appendix. -- Appendix, Supplement. An appendix is that which is appended to something, but is not essential to its completeness; a supplement is that which supplements, or serves to complete or make perfect, that to which it is added. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. supplémentaire. ] Added to supply what is wanted; additional; being, or serving as, a supplement; as, a supplemental law; a supplementary sheet or volume. [ 1913 Webster ]

Supplemental air (Physiol.), the air which in addition to the residual air remains in the lungs after ordinary expiration, but which, unlike the residual air, can be expelled; reserve air. --
Supplemental bill (Equity), a bill filed in aid of an original bill to supply some deffect in the latter, or to set forth new facts which can not be done by amendment. Burrill. Daniel. --
Supplementary chords (Math.), in an ellipse or hyperbola, any two chords drawn through the extremities of a diameter, and intersecting on the curve. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of supplementing. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]