relieve

CEFRB1

/ɹɪˈliːv/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To reduce pain, worry, or difficulty.

  2. 02

    verb

    To replace someone in a job or duty.

Examples

  • Do you have anything to relieve a headache?

  • The doctor gave him some drugs to relieve the pain.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To alleviate (pain, distress, mental discomfort etc.).

  2. To ease (someone, a part of the body etc.) or give relief from physical pain or discomfort.

  3. To ease (a person, person's thoughts etc.) from mental distress; to stop (someone) feeling anxious or worried, to alleviate the distress of.

More examples

In context

  • The doctor prescribed medicine to relieve the patient's severe pain.

  • I was greatly relieved by the jury's verdict.

  • This shall not relieve either Party of any obligations.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The doctor prescribed the medicine to blank the patient's chronic back pain.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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.