lexicow

relieve

/rɪˈliːv//rɪˈliːv/·verb

to lift pain or a burden away enough for it to become bearable

I watch a man pinned under a sack nearly his own size — knees buckled outward, whole body juddering, sweat streaming down his face. Someone walks up, takes hold, hoists the entire thing off him in one clean lift, then turns and carries it away overhead. The instant its weight leaves his shoulders his spine unrolls and his chest fills, one huge breath and then another. He wipes his brow, flicks the drops away, and grins at the empty air where the load used to be.
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Definition

To relieve is to lift a burden, pain, or distress off someone — enough that what remains is bearable. An aspirin relieves a headache; a good laugh relieves tension; a new road relieves congestion on the old one. The word centres on the felt moment of release: pressure that was bearing down comes off, and you breathe again. It shares ground with alleviate and lessen, but relieve stresses removal rather than mere reduction — and it has a second life in taking over someone's post, as when a fresh guard relieves the one on duty.

Examples

  • She took an aspirin to relieve the pounding in her head.
  • The bypass was built to relieve pressure on the city's oldest bridge.
  • At midnight a fresh sentry arrived to relieve the exhausted guard.

Collocations

relieve the pain·relieve stress·relieve pressure·relieve congestion·relieve symptoms·be relieved to hear

Synonyms

alleviate·ease·lessen·soothe·unburden

Antonyms

aggravate·exacerbate·worsen

Word family

relief (noun)·relieved (adjective)

In TOEFL & IELTS

The go-to verb when a burden is lifted enough to be borne: 'relieve the pain', 'relieve stress', 'relieve congestion', 'relieve symptoms'. It anchors solution paragraphs in Writing Task 2 ('measures to relieve pressure on public hospitals'), and its family does heavy lifting in every skill — the noun relief ('to my relief, the results were fine') and the adjective relieved. Keep the neighbours apart: relieve lifts the load off (a felt removal), alleviate makes suffering less severe, lessen simply reduces an amount. Watch the -ie- spelling, and the pattern 'relieve someone OF something' (he was relieved of his duties).