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.
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2. To cause to seem to rise; to put in relief; to give
prominence or conspicuousness to; to set off by contrast.
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Her tall figure relieved against the blue sky;
seemed almost of supernatural height. --Sir W.
Scott.
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3. To raise up something in; to introduce a contrast or
variety into; to remove the monotony or sameness of.
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The poet must . . . sometimes relieve the subject
with a moral reflection. --Addison.
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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.
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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.
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Now lend assistance and relieve the poor. --Dryden.
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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.
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Who hath relieved you? --Shak.
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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.
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Syn: To alleviate; assuage; succor; assist; aid; help;
support; substain; ease; mitigate; lighten; diminish;
remove; free; remedy; redress; indemnify.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
relieve
v 1: provide physical relief, as from pain; "This pill will
relieve your headaches" [syn: alleviate, palliate, assuage]
2: free someone temporarily from his or her obligations [syn: take
over]
3: grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to;
"She exempted me from the exam" [syn: exempt, free]
[ant: enforce]
4: lessen the intensity of or calm; "The news eased my
conscience"; "still the fears" [syn: still, allay, ease]
5: save from ruin, destruction, or harm [syn: salvage, salve,
save]
6: relieve oneself of troubling information [syn: unbosom]
7: alleviate or remove; "relieve the pressure and the stress"
8: provide relief for; "remedy his illness" [syn: remedy]
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" [syn: excuse, let off, exempt]
WordNet (r) 2.0
196 Moby Thesaurus words for "relieve":
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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