Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Willing

Will′ing

,
Adj.
[From
Will
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
Free to do or to grant; having the mind inclined; not opposed in mind; not choosing to refuse; disposed; not averse; desirous; consenting; complying; ready.
Felix,
willing
to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
Acts xxiv. 27.
With wearied wings and
willing
feet.
Milton.
[Fruit] shaken in August from the
willing
boughs.
Bryant.
2.
Received of choice, or without reluctance; submitted to voluntarily; chosen; desired.
[They] are held, with his melodious harmony,
In
willing
chains and sweet captivity.
Milton.
3.
Spontaneous; self-moved.
[R.]
No spouts of blood run
willing
from a tree.
Dryden.

Webster 1828 Edition


Willing

WILLING

,
ppr.
1.
Determining; resolving; desiring.
2.
Disposing of by will.

WILLING

,
Adj.
1.
Free to do or grant; having the mind inclined; disposed; not averse. Let every man give, who is able and willing.
2.
Pleased; desirous.
Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure. Acts 24.
3.
Ready; prompt.
He stoopd with weary wings and willing feet.
4.
Chosen; received of choice or without reluctance; as, to be held in willing chains.
5.
Spontaneous.
No spouts of blood run wiling from a tree.
6.
Consenting.

Definition 2024


willing

willing

English

Adjective

willing (comparative more willing, superlative most willing)

  1. Ready to do something that is not (can't be expected as) a matter of course.
    If my boyfriend isn't willing to change his drinking habits, I will split up with him.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
      In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete. The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness. The Celebrity as a matter of course was master of ceremonies.
    • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
      Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

willing (plural willings)

  1. (rare or obsolete) The execution of a will.

Verb

willing

  1. present participle of will

External links

  • willing in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • willing in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911