Link Centre Dictionary

relieve

re·lieve

UK/ɹɪˈliːv/ US/riˈliv/ fairly common

verb

1.

provide physical relief, as from pain

  • “This pill will relieve your headaches”
Synonyms
2.

free someone temporarily from his or her obligations

Synonyms
3.

grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to

  • “She exempted me from the exam”
Synonyms
Antonyms
4.

lessen the intensity of or calm

  • “The news eased my conscience”
  • “still the fears”
Synonyms
5.
6.

relieve oneself of troubling information

Synonyms
7.

alleviate or remove

  • “relieve the pressure and the stress”
8.

provide relief for

  • “remedy his illness”
Synonyms
9.

free from a burden, evil, or distress

10.

take by stealing

  • “The thief relieved me of $100”
11.

grant exemption or release to

  • “Please excuse me from this class”
Synonyms

Origin

From Late Middle English releven, from Old French relever, specifically from the conjugated forms such as (jeo) relieve (“I lift up”), and its source, Latin relevo (“to lift up, lighten, relieve, alleviate”), combined form of re- (“back”) + levo (“to lift”). Doublet of relevate. Compare levant, levity, etc.

Phrases

  • relieve nature
  • relieving arch
  • relieving officer
  • relieving tackle

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.