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heal

[heel]

verb (used with object)

to make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment.

to bring to an end or conclusion, as conflicts between people or groups, usually with the strong implication of restoring former amity; settle; reconcile: They tried to heal the rift between them but were unsuccessful.

to free from evil; cleanse; purify: to heal the soul.

verb (used without object)

to effect a cure.

(of a wound, broken bone, etc.) to become whole or sound; mend; get well (often followed by up or over).

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Heal is one of our favorite verbs.

So is yaff. Does it mean:

to spend time idly; loaf.

to bark; yelp.

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Origin:
before 900; Middle English helen, Old English hǣlan (cognate with Dutch helen, German heilen, Old Norse heila, Gothic hailjan), derivative of hāl hale¹, whole

Related forms

heal·a·ble, adjective

half-healed, adjective

pre·heal, verb (used with object)

un·heal·a·ble, adjective

un·healed, adjective

EXPAND

well-healed, adjective

COLLAPSE

Can be confused: heal, heel, he'll.

Synonyms
1. See cure. 2. compose, soothe. 3. purge, disinfect.

Antonyms
1, 2. irritate. 3. soil, infect.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To heal

Example Sentences

Despite one misconception, there is no evidence that a bone that breaks will heal to be stronger than it was before.

It's taken that long for the deep wounds of rejection to heal.

The difference is that these materials will heal in minutes rather than months.

EXPAND

Despite one misconception, there is no evidence that a bone that breaks will heal to be stronger than it was before.

It's taken that long for the deep wounds of rejection to heal.

The difference is that these materials will heal in minutes rather than months.

It was so refreshing to know that when man is gone the earth will heal itself from the damage man placed upon it.

Hunting for a way to let the liver heal itself without causing more harm than good.

Hauling rocks to construct religious monuments to heal the soul is one of mankind's oldest traditions.

She had to be put on medication to heal her insides.

The top skin had the gel applied and shows less scarring than the bottom skin, which was allowed to heal naturally.

Carbuncles usually must drain before they will heal.

KeineIdee, good luck with the surgery and may you heal quickly and fully.

If they start to specialise too early, there will not be enough bone cells to heal the fracture.

Many shamans believe the plants will tell them how to heal.

Legends report samurai warriors soaking off the aftermath of battle and peasants trekking to famous onsen to heal cuts and burns.

She experimented until she finally came up with formulations to hydrate, soften, and heal his hands and feet.

Each dose contains enough stem cells to rebuild the immune system of a child, but not enough to heal an adult.

Place ice on the bruise to help it heal faster and to reduce swelling.

If you're hurt enough, there ain't nothing for it but to heal.

Welsh's spinal cord escaped damage, and doctors decided to let the wound heal without surgery.

Blood vessels raised in tissue culture may one day help heal broken hearts.

God made plants or their parts resemble the things they were supposed to heal.

Either way, doctors say the product is encouraging the skin to heal unlike anything else used before.

The lesions eventually dry out, develop a crust, and heal rapidly without leaving a scar.

These small steps may help heal the planet and save you money.

Physicians have long marveled at the body's ability to heal itself.

To heal properly, the crystals need to form from the bottom of the tooth up to the enamel.

Most cases heal by themselves with no lasting symptoms.

Other studies have also shown that stem cells can heal spinal damage.

The good news is that these diligent scientists sometimes really do figure out how to heal the mice.

The damage can heal itself over time, so there will be no permanent change to your heart.

Battle viruses to heal the human body at the microscopic level.

It is a warning that bodily injury needs attention and time to heal.

And if they do somehow get hurt, the suit could immediately start to heal them and report their injuries back to headquarters.

The result was the death of valuable dogs and frostbite on the feet of his men that would require a month to heal.

No artificial system yet devised-super-efficient or otherwise-can heal itself.

The cast was put on two weeks ago to give damaged ligaments rest and time to heal.

If the ancestors are appeased, the family will heal.

Progress in cell transplants to heal damaged retinas.

Thieves will disable your traps, wizards will target your mana crystals and clerics will heal the whole marauding gang.

Old logging roads have been removed by the council and the state parks, and the land is beginning to heal.

Shots to the heart or brain or any other normally sensitive body part heal in seconds.

The mage can cast lightning spells and heal himself and allies.

All knew how to use the plants in the forest to heal cuts, treat dysentery, or cast or break a spell.

Playing music for premature babies in the hospital may help them heal more quickly, a new study finds.

She also knew from an early age that she had an innate ability to heal both people and animals.

Sleep may play an important role in general health, but getting a little extra won't help you heal faster after an injury.

But a new concrete that can heal its own wounds may soon bring futuristic protection to bridges and roads.

Once removed they heal well enough but until that time they are a constant annoyance and object lesson.

Many knit clothes and weave baskets to make a little money while their bodies heal.

Each new injury is more painful and takes longer to heal.

After each mating about five to ten in a lifetime the wounds heal and leave scar tissue.

In attempts to help heal the wounded tissue, some athletes, both amateur and professional.

It is remarkable that ecclesiastical breaches should be harder to heal than civil or political breaches.

To complicate matters further, in the case of radiation damage time does not heal all wounds.

Because the stickiness that allow platelets to heal your wounds also raises your risk of heart attack.

In fact, the injured whose wounds glowed seemed to heal better than the others.

But researchers don't know why exactly the animals' injuries heal so well.

In the morning of the atomic age, there was optimism that the nuclear genie could heal as well as kill.

Nations, however, do not heal in the same way that people do.

Aloe vera helps skin heal faster, soothing minor irritations and healing burns.

Your life will begin to heal and you will take back a little of the control that cancer takes from you.

Blood vessels also grow after injury, building under a scab to heal a wound.

He may have helped to heal the wounds of civil war in his.

The findings further support the idea that one way to heal problems of the mind might be through the.

Dombeck has said that the salvage bill undermined his agency's credibility, requiring it to damage forests as much as heal them.

Ruit's goal is to heal patients in poor countries who have gone blind from cataracts.

Shermer cites negative results of tests of the power of prayer to heal.

The only thing that will really heal a sunburn is time.

It would help to heal the breach between the two great theories of physics-quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Time might heal metaphorical heartbreak, but an injured heart can rarely repair itself.

It now appears the mark was self-inflicted, and police say it's expected to heal completely.

Thermal-water soaks in one of several pools are said to heal nerve- and respiratory-related illnesses.

Alligators heal fast, rarely get infections, and survive in murky water on diseased food.

Microchimerism could contribute to an immune attack in some cases but help the body heal in others.

These images can help us heal those same wounds, too.

Alcohol addiction treatment center provides wide varieties of recovery programs to heal drug and alcohol addicts.

Then he would cut what was needed from the leeward side so the tree would heal more readily than if it were exposed to the wind.

In addition, studies suggest that microgravity alters the ability of bones to heal after fractures.

Wounds heal in real time, and you must hunt and eat animals to stay strong.

Potentially superconductors, smaller ultra capacitors, and miniature machines that can heal us.

They can even heal themselves if they get chipped or broken.

Thankfully a doctor was able to identify it as bed bug bites and it started to heal.

One example of this brain-wave therapy is in use to heal troubled veterans.

He can not heal a hospital of sick or dying children, so he has to be satisfied with fulfilling their wishes for a week.

And his top priority is catching the bad guy, not helping to heal your psychological wounds.

He can not heal a hospital of sick or dying children, so he has to be satisfied with fulfilling their wishes for a.

Friends can also heal you, if you've squandered your own health kit.

The victem would have some physical damage that would heal without much, if any, perminant physical damage.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

heal (hiːl)

—vb
1.	to restore or be restored to health
2.	(intr; often foll by over or up) (of a wound, burn, etc) to repair by natural processes, as by scar formation
3.	(tr)
	a. to treat (a wound, etc) by assisting in its natural repair
	b. to cure (a disease or disorder)
4.	to restore or be restored to friendly relations, harmony, etc

[Old English hælan; related to Old Norse heila, Gothic hailjan, Old High German heilen; see hale¹, whole]

'healable

—*adj*

'healer

—n

'healing

—n, —*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

heal

O.E. hælan "make whole, sound and well," from P.Gmc. *khailaz (cf. O.S. helian, O.N. heila, O.Fris. hela, Du. heelen, Ger. heilen), lit. "to make whole," which is also the source of O.E. hal (see health). Heal-all as a native word for "panacea" is attested from 1577;

EXPAND

applied to various plants since 1853.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

heal (hēl)
v. healed, heal·ing, heals

To restore to health or soundness; cure.
To become well; return to sound health.

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