HEAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does heal mean? 

• HEAL (verb)
  The verb HEAL has 3 senses:

1. heal or recover

2. get healthy again

3. provide a cure for, make healthy again

  Familiarity information: HEAL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEAL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they heal    ... he / she / it heals   
Past simple: healed   
Past participle: healed   
-ing form: healing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Heal or recover

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

heal; mend

Context example:

My broken leg is mending

Hypernyms (to "heal" is one way to...):

ameliorate; better; improve; meliorate (get better)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

healing (the natural process by which the body repairs itself)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get healthy again

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

The wound is healing slowly

Hypernyms (to "heal" is one way to...):

ameliorate; better; improve; meliorate (get better)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "heal"):

scab (form a scab)

skin over (grow new skin over an injury)

granulate (form granulating tissue)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody's (body part) ----s

Derivation:

healing (the natural process by which the body repairs itself)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Provide a cure for, make healthy again

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

bring around; cure; heal

Context example:

The quack pretended to heal patients but never managed to

Hypernyms (to "heal" is one way to...):

aid; help (improve the condition of)

"Heal" entails doing...:

care for; treat (provide treatment for)

Domain category:

medicine; practice of medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "heal"):

recuperate (restore to good health or strength)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

healer (a person skilled in a particular type of therapy)

 Context examples 

It usually manifests with slow healing or failure to heal of a jaw bone following oral surgery.

(Bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis, NCI Thesaurus)

When they came to their journey’s end, the youngest son brought his cup to the sick king, that he might drink and be healed.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Examples include Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, Huna, laying-on-of-hands, external Qi-Gong, Healing Science, Healing touch, Natural healing, Specific Human Energy Nexus (SHEN), and Bio-Relaxation.

(Biofield Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

Alginate acts as a moisturizer and supports skin healing.

(Beta-glucan/Alginate/Hyaluronic Acid/Squalene/Avocado Oil-containing Emulsion, NCI Thesaurus)

A therapeutic technique in which art is used to express and explore emotions and to help address or heal emotional problems or traumas.

(Art therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

At several stages of embryogenesis, wound healing, and tumor cell metastasis, cells form and leave epithelia.

(Beta Catenin, NCI Thesaurus/from OMIM)

The twelfth house is also the house of healing, so you might opt to go into therapy to talk over an event or relationship where you feel stuck and unable to move forward.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It is characterized by small white ulcerative lesions, single or multiple, round or oval, lasting for 7-14 days and healing without scarring.

(Canker Sore, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in apoptosis, inflammation, septic shock, and wound healing.

(CASP1 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

Eventually, mimicking the processes initiated by the microbiome may allow clinicians to accelerate wound healing and prevent dangerous infections, the researchers note.

(Scientists find microbes on the skin of mice promote tissue healing, immunity, National Institutes of Health)