'Relieve' definitions:
Definition of 'relieve'
From: WordNet
verb
Provide physical relief, as from pain; "This pill will relieve your headaches" [syn: relieve, alleviate, palliate, assuage]
verb
Free someone temporarily from his or her obligations [syn: take over, relieve]
verb
Grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to; "She exempted me from the exam" [syn: exempt, relieve, free] [ant: apply, enforce, implement]
verb
Lessen the intensity of or calm; "The news eased my conscience"; "still the fears" [syn: still, allay, relieve, ease]
verb
verb
Relieve oneself of troubling information [syn: unbosom, relieve]
verb
Provide relief for; "remedy his illness" [syn: remedy, relieve]
verb
Free from a burden, evil, or distress
verb
Take by stealing; "The thief relieved me of $100"
verb
Grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class" [syn: excuse, relieve, let off, exempt]
verb
Alleviate or remove (pressure or stress) or make less oppressive; "relieve the pressure and the stress"; "lighten the burden of caring for her elderly parents" [syn: relieve, lighten]
Definition of 'Relieve'
From: GCIDE
- Relieve \Re*lieve"\ (r?-l?v"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Relieved (-l?vd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Relieving.] [OE. releven, F. relever to raise again, discharge, relieve, fr. L. relevare to lift up, raise, make light, relieve; pref. re- re- + levare to raise, fr. levis light. See Levity, and cf. Relevant, Relief.]
- 1. To lift up; to raise again, as one who has fallen; to cause to rise. [Obs.] --Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To cause to seem to rise; to put in relief; to give prominence or conspicuousness to; to set off by contrast. [1913 Webster]
- Her tall figure relieved against the blue sky; seemed almost of supernatural height. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To raise up something in; to introduce a contrast or variety into; to remove the monotony or sameness of. [1913 Webster]
- The poet must . . . sometimes relieve the subject with a moral reflection. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To raise or remove, as anything which depresses, weighs down, or crushes; to render less burdensome or afflicting; to alleviate; to abate; to mitigate; to lessen; as, to relieve pain; to relieve the wants of the poor. [1913 Webster]
- 5. To free, wholly or partly, from any burden, trial, evil, distress, or the like; to give ease, comfort, or consolation to; to give aid, help, or succor to; to support, strengthen, or deliver; as, to relieve a besieged town. [1913 Webster]
- Now lend assistance and relieve the poor. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 6. To release from a post, station, or duty; to put another in place of, or to take the place of, in the bearing of any burden, or discharge of any duty. [1913 Webster]
- Who hath relieved you? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 7. To ease of any imposition, burden, wrong, or oppression, by judicial or legislative interposition, as by the removal of a grievance, by indemnification for losses, or the like; to right. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: To alleviate; assuage; succor; assist; aid; help; support; substain; ease; mitigate; lighten; diminish; remove; free; remedy; redress; indemnify. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'relieve'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abate,
- abet,
- abridge,
- absolve,
- act for,
- aid,
- allay,
- alleviate,
- alternate,
- anesthetize,
- appease,
- assist,
- assuage,
- assure,
- avail,
- bail out,
- be light,
- bear a hand,
- bear up,
- befriend,
- benefit,
- benumb,
- bereave,
- bleed,
- break up,
- change places with,
- cheer,
- comfort,
- condole with,
- console,
- cover,
- crowd out,
- curtail,
- cushion,
- cut off,
- cut out,
- deaden,
- deaden the pain,
- decrease,
- deliver,
- deprive,
- deprive of,
- differ,
- differentiate,
- diminish,
- disburden,
- discharge,
- disencumber,
- disentitle,
- dispense,
- displace,
- dissent,
- disunify,
- divaricate,
- diverge,
- diversify,
- divest,
- do a hitch,
- do a stint,
- do a tour,
- do good,
- do time,
- doctor,
- double for,
- drain,
- dull,
- ease,
- ease matters,
- ease one of,
- encourage,
- enlist,
- excuse,
- favor,
- fill in,
- fill in for,
- foment,
- free,
- ghost,
- ghostwrite,
- give a boost,
- give a hand,
- give a lift,
- give comfort,
- give help,
- give relief,
- have a go,
- have little weight,
- have tenure,
- hearten,
- help,
- hold office,
- keep a watch,
- kick the beam,
- knock off,
- knock over,
- lay,
- lend a hand,
- lend one aid,
- lessen,
- let,
- liberate,
- lift,
- lighten,
- lighten one of,
- loot,
- lull,
- make light,
- make lighter,
- milk,
- mine,
- mitigate,
- moderate,
- mollify,
- numb,
- off-load,
- pad,
- palliate,
- pinch-hit,
- plunder,
- poultice,
- pour balm into,
- pour oil on,
- proffer aid,
- protect,
- put at ease,
- qualify,
- quiet,
- raise,
- rally,
- ransack,
- re-up,
- reassure,
- reclaim,
- redeem,
- reduce,
- reduce weight,
- reenlist,
- release,
- remedy,
- render assistance,
- replace,
- represent,
- rescue,
- restore,
- resuscitate,
- revive,
- rid,
- rifle,
- rob,
- salve,
- save,
- serve time,
- set at ease,
- set up,
- sign up,
- slacken,
- slake,
- soften,
- solace,
- soothe,
- spare,
- spell,
- spell off,
- stand in for,
- stick up,
- stupe,
- sub,
- subdue,
- subrogate,
- substitute,
- substitute for,
- succeed,
- succor,
- supersede,
- supplant,
- supply,
- support,
- swap places with,
- sympathize with,
- take away from,
- take from,
- take in tow,
- take over,
- take turns,
- tap,
- temper,
- time off,
- unballast,
- unburden,
- understudy for,
- unlade,
- unload,
- variate,
- variegate,
- vary,
- weigh lightly