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ease

/iːz//iːz/·verb
make something less severe, difficult, or uncomfortable, gently and by degrees
Fig. 1 — I watch a man stroll past with a tower of boxes stacked higher than he is tall balanced on his upraised hands, grinning right at me.
01Definition

To ease something is to make it less severe, difficult, or uncomfortable — gently and by degrees rather than all at once. You ease pressure, pain, tension, or congestion: the unwelcome thing loosens its grip a little at a time. It is an everyday, gentle word, softer and less formal than alleviate or mitigate, and it works both ways — you can ease a burden, or a pain can ease on its own. It also means to move something slowly and carefully, as in to ease into a new role.

02In use
  • iGovernment measures to ease the pressure on overcrowded hospitals slowly began to take effect.
  • iiA few minutes of stretching eased the tension in her shoulders before the interview.
  • iiiHe eased the car into the narrow space, careful not to scrape the wall.
03Collocations
  • ease the pressure
  • ease tension
  • ease congestion
  • ease restrictions
  • ease into a role
  • ease the pain

Family easy (adjective) · easily (adverb) · easing (noun)

04Relations

=relieve, alleviate, lessen, soothe, mitigate

≠aggravate, exacerbate, worsen, tighten

05Compared
PairThe difference
ease vs abatea force dies down of its own accord (storm, outcry) → abate; gentle, gradual loosening, done or felt (pressure, tension) → ease.
ease vs aggravatetightens what hurts (and takes the blame) → aggravate; loosens it gently, by degrees → ease.
ease vs alleviateformal easing of real suffering (pain, poverty) → alleviate; everyday, gentle loosening (pressure, tension, nerves) → ease.
ease vs exacerbateturns the trouble down (gently, by degrees) → ease; turns it up (formally, with a cause) → exacerbate.
ease vs lessenloosens how it feels (tension, pressure) → ease; shrinks how much there is (risk, impact) → lessen.

Also compared with mitigate, relieve, worsen

06TOEFL & IELTS

A versatile, everyday verb for a gradual reduction, useful across trend and process writing: 'ease the pressure', 'ease congestion', 'ease restrictions'. It works transitively (measures ease the burden) and intransitively (the pain eased), which makes it flexible in Writing Task 1 trends and Task 2 solutions. Keep its register in mind: ease is gentler and less formal than alleviate or mitigate, so reach for those when the tone is academic and for ease when describing a steady, natural loosening. The phrase 'ease into' adds the sense of moving slowly and carefully.

07Asked
Is ease a noun or a verb?
Ease was a noun first: freedom from effort or discomfort — you do something with ease, live a life of ease, put a guest at ease. The verb grew out of it: to ease something is to grant it some of that freedom. The scene above stages the noun: the tower of boxes is absurd, yet the man under it strolls and whistles, wearing none of its weight.
What is the difference between ease off and ease up?
Very little — both mean to become less intense or to slacken the pressure, and they swap freely: the rain eased off, the rain eased up. The one lean worth knowing: ease up on takes a target ('ease up on the new students' — be less harsh), while ease off more often describes the thing itself declining. Both are conversational rather than formal.
How is ease different from alleviate and mitigate?
It is the gentle, everyday member of the family — and each contrast has its own page (alleviate vs ease, ease vs mitigate, ease vs relieve and more) in the 'Compared' list above.
What does 'ease into' something mean?
To enter it gradually, on purpose — ease into a new job, a routine, retirement, even cold water. The image is lowering yourself by degrees instead of plunging: the commitment is taken on a little at a time while adjustment happens. It is the standard advice verb for transitions, and its opposite number is diving — or being thrown — straight in.
What do 'at ease' and 'ill at ease' mean?
At ease is the state the noun promises — relaxed, unanxious, free of strain; soldiers ordered to stand at ease may loosen their posture. Ill at ease is its uncomfortable negative: awkward, unable to settle, with ill keeping its old adverbial sense of 'badly'. Both idioms describe people rather than problems, which is a corner the verb ease rarely reaches.