RELIEVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does relieve mean? 

• RELIEVE (verb)
  The verb RELIEVE has 11 senses:

1. provide physical relief, as from pain

2. free someone temporarily from his or her obligations

3. grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to

4. lessen the intensity of or calm

5. save from ruin, destruction, or harm

6. relieve oneself of troubling information

7. provide relief for

8. free from a burden, evil, or distress

9. take by stealing

10. grant exemption or release to

11. alleviate or remove (pressure or stress) or make less oppressive

  Familiarity information: RELIEVE used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RELIEVE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they relieve    ... he / she / it relieves   
Past simple: relieved   
Past participle: relieved   
-ing form: relieving   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide physical relief, as from pain

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

alleviate; assuage; palliate; relieve

Context example:

This pill will relieve your headaches

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

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

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

soothe (cause to feel better)

comfort; ease (lessen pain or discomfort; alleviate)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Free someone temporarily from his or her obligations

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

relieve; take over

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

discharge; free (free from obligations or duties)

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

spell (relieve (someone) from work by taking a turn)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot relieve Sue

Derivation:

reliever (a pitcher who does not start the game)

reliever (someone who takes the place of another (as when things get dangerous or difficult))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

exempt; free; relieve

Context example:

She exempted me from the exam

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

derestrict (make free from restrictions)

deregulate (lift the regulations on)

dispense (grant a dispensation; grant an exemption)

forgive (absolve from payment)

spare (save or relieve from an experience or action)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Lessen the intensity of or calm

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

allay; ease; relieve; still

Context example:

still the fears

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

comfort; console; solace; soothe (give moral or emotional strength to)

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

abreact (discharge bad feelings or tension through verbalization)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence example:

The good news will relieve her

Derivation:

reliever (a person who reduces the intensity (e.g., of fears) and calms and pacifies)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Save from ruin, destruction, or harm

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

relieve; salvage; salve; save

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

deliver; rescue (free from harm or evil)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 6

Meaning:

Relieve oneself of troubling information

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

relieve; unbosom

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

confide (reveal in private; tell confidentially)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They relieve themselves

Sense 7

Meaning:

Provide relief for

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

relieve; remedy

Context example:

remedy his illness

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

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)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Free from a burden, evil, or distress

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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

disembarrass; free; rid (relieve from)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody of something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Take by stealing

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

The thief relieved me of $100

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

take (take by force)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody of something

Sentence example:

They relieve him of all his money

Sense 10

Meaning:

Grant exemption or release to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

excuse; exempt; let off; relieve

Context example:

Please excuse me from this class

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

absolve; free (let off the hook)

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

frank (exempt by means of an official pass or letter, as from customs or other checks)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sentence example:

Sam cannot relieve Sue

Sense 11

Meaning:

Alleviate or remove (pressure or stress) or make less oppressive

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

lighten; relieve

Context example:

lighten the burden of caring for her elderly parents

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

mitigate (make less severe or harsh)

Sentence frames:

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

 Context examples 

We laid him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to relieve his pain.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Dear me, how very stupid of me, to be sure! Good-morning, miss, and many thanks for having relieved my mind.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her curiosity, however, was unexpectedly relieved.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Maud clapped her hands the instant she was relieved from holding the turn, crying:

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She said that her husband was very tired and she wished to relieve him.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mercury has been retrograde since February 16, so you’ll be relieved to see all talks and initiations move forward when Mercury goes direct on March 9.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The researchers identified multiple allergy-relieving antihistamines that also have antiviral activity.

(Allergy Drug Treats Hepatitis C in Mice, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In an effort to find better depression treatments, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine discovered that inhibiting an enzyme called Glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) relieves signs of depression in mice.

(New Method for Treating Depression, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Now a research group has developed a highly selective compound that can effectively block FKBP51 in mice, relieving chronic pain and having positive effects on diet-induced obesity and mood.

(Depression, Obesity, Chronic Pain Could be Treated by Targeting the Same Key Protein, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Opioids are a class of powerful pain-relieving drugs that work by activating opioid receptors on nerve cells in the body and brain.

(Designing more effective opioids, NIH)