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relieve

/rɪˈliːv//rɪˈliːv/·verb
to lift pain or a burden away enough for it to become bearable
Fig. 1 — I watch a man pinned under a sack nearly his own size — knees buckled outward, whole body juddering, sweat streaming down his face.
01Definition

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.

02In use
  • iShe took an aspirin to relieve the pounding in her head.
  • iiThe bypass was built to relieve pressure on the city's oldest bridge.
  • iiiAt midnight a fresh sentry arrived to relieve the exhausted guard.
03Collocations
  • relieve the pain
  • relieve stress
  • relieve pressure
  • relieve congestion
  • relieve symptoms
  • be relieved to hear

Family relief (noun) · relieved (adjective)

04Relations

=alleviate, ease, lessen, soothe, unburden

≠aggravate, exacerbate, worsen

05Compared
PairThe difference
relieve vs abatethe trouble fades by itself → abate; something or someone lifts it off you → relieve.
relieve vs aggravatepresses the burden down harder → aggravate; lifts it off so the release is felt → relieve.
relieve vs alleviatemakes the suffering less severe (still there, but lighter) → alleviate; lifts the load off so the release is felt → relieve.
relieve vs easeloosens gradually, by degrees → ease; lifts the load off in a felt moment of release → relieve.
relieve vs exacerbateturns the pain or problem up (a flare, formal) → exacerbate; lifts it off so the release is felt → relieve.

Also compared with lessen, mitigate, relinquish, worsen

06TOEFL & 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).

07Asked
Relieve, relief or relieved — which form goes where?
Relieve is the verb (the pill relieves pain), relief the noun (pain relief; to my relief), relieved the adjective of the person (I'm so relieved). The classic slips cross the streams: 'I am relief' and 'a relieve' are both impossible. Spelling follows the believe family — i before e — so 'releive' and 'releave' are always wrong.
What does 'relieved to hear' mean, and what grammar does it take?
It reports the feeling of a weight lifting: anxiety was in place, and the news removed it. The adjective takes two frames — relieved to + verb (relieved to hear you arrived) and relieved that + clause (relieved that the tests were clear) — and pairs with breathe: 'we all breathed a sigh of relief' is the set phrase for the same moment in noun form.
What does 'relieve oneself' mean?
It is the standard polite euphemism for going to the toilet — urinating or, less often, defecating — the register you meet in formal notices, wildlife documentaries and medical writing. The logic is the word's usual one, a bodily pressure released. Treat it as a fixed phrase: only the reflexive pronoun carries this meaning, so 'relieve yourself' is the euphemism while 'relieve you' is not.
What does it mean to relieve congestion or pressure?
The metaphor is hydraulic: roads, hospitals and networks are treated as vessels near capacity, and relieving them means opening an outlet — a bypass, extra beds, a second server — so the load drains somewhere else. Note what is not claimed: the demand itself is untouched. The scene above keeps the accounting honest: the sack is lifted off the man, but somebody is now carrying it overhead.