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View synonyms for relieve

relieve

[ ri-leev ]

verb (used with object)

, re·lieved, re·liev·ing.
  1. to ease or alleviate (pain, distress, anxiety, need, etc.).

    Synonyms: diminish, abate, lessen, lighten, allay, assuage, mitigate

    Antonyms: intensify

  2. to free from anxiety, fear, pain, etc.
  3. to free from need, poverty, etc.

    Synonyms: sustain, support

  4. to bring effective aid to (a besieged town, military position, etc.).

    Synonyms: succor, assist, help, aid

  5. to ease (a person) of any burden, wrong, or oppression, as by legal means.
  6. to reduce (a pressure, load, weight, etc., on a device or object under stress):

    to relieve the steam pressure; to relieve the stress on the supporting walls.

  7. to make less tedious, unpleasant, or monotonous; break or vary the sameness of:

    curtains to relieve the drabness of the room.

  8. to bring into relief or prominence; heighten the effect of.
  9. to release (one on duty) by coming as or providing a substitute or replacement.
  10. Machinery.
    1. to free (a closed space, as a tank, boiler, etc.) of more than a desirable pressure or vacuum.
    2. to reduce (the pressure or vacuum in such a space) to a desirable level.
  11. Baseball. to replace (a pitcher).


verb (used without object)

, re·lieved, re·liev·ing.
  1. Baseball. to act as a relief pitcher:

    He relieved in 52 games for the Pirates last season.

relieve

/ rɪˈliːv /

verb

  1. to bring alleviation of (pain, distress, etc) to (someone)
  2. to bring aid or assistance to (someone in need, a disaster area, etc)
  3. to take over the duties or watch of (someone)
  4. to bring aid or a relieving force to (a besieged town, city, etc)
  5. to free (someone) from an obligation
  6. to make (something) less unpleasant, arduous, or monotonous
  7. to bring into relief or prominence, as by contrast
  8. informal.
    foll by of to take from

    the thief relieved him of his watch

  9. relieve oneself
    relieve oneself to urinate or defecate


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Derived Forms

  • reˈlievable, adjective

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Other Words From

  • re·lieva·ble adjective
  • re·liev·ed·ly [ri-, lee, -vid-lee], adverb
  • nonre·lieving adjective
  • quasi-re·lieved adjective
  • unre·lieva·ble adjective
  • unre·lieved adjective
  • unre·lieved·ly adverb
  • unre·lieving adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of relieve1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English releven from Middle French relever “to raise,” from Latin relevāre “to reduce the load of, lighten,” equivalent to re- “again, again and again”+ levāre “to raise,” derivative of levis “light in weight”; re-

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Word History and Origins

Origin of relieve1

C14: from Old French relever , from Latin relevāre to lift up, relieve, from re- + levāre to lighten

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. to relieve oneself, to urinate or defecate.

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Synonym Study

See comfort.

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Example Sentences

They seem to understand that what matters most in the end is whether the patient is relieved of his suffering.

Djamo relieves that stress and even allows customers to use their cards with zero fees in a wide range of services.

I was relieved to be one step safer to the people around me in the community, all the while acknowledging that my social privilege, access to technology, and vehicle had given me a major advantage.

Across the region, children giggled under snowflakes while their parents said they were relieved to see some magic back in their lives.

The LuxFit is also helpful for relieving back pain that crops up in the course of daily life.

“Seth kept the team together, but his constant need to relieve himself kept the team down,” says the announcer.

Women have become more professional and independent, so a lot of them are looking at role revisal to relieve similar tensions.

Adam Kawalek went from Los Angeles to Gaza to try to relieve the suffering of the sick and wounded there.

However, medications and therapies have been developed to relieve symptoms significantly.

Each of these developments would be good news for Tesla and would relieve the company of billions of dollars in annual costs.

We should have to admit that the new law does little or nothing to relieve such a situation.

Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.

Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida fell without the English commander making any apparent effort to relieve them.

Dorothy had tried her best to relieve Letty of half her burthen, and in return had been made a bone of contention between them.

Consequently the House gave a friendly reception to a Bill intended to relieve them of some of their pecuniary burdens.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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