alleviateal‧le‧vi‧ate /əˈliːvieɪt/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 
a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu measures to alleviate poverty—alleviation /əˌliːviˈeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]
WORD ORIGINalleviate
Origin:
1500-1600 Late Latin past participle of alleviare, from Latin ad- ‘to’ + levis ‘light’VERB TABLE
alleviate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | alleviate |
| he, she, it | alleviates | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | alleviated |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have alleviated |
| he, she, it | has alleviated | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had alleviated |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will alleviate |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have alleviated |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am alleviating |
| he, she, it | is alleviating | |
| you, we, they | are alleviating | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was alleviating |
| you, we, they | were alleviating | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been alleviating |
| he, she, it | has been alleviating | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been alleviating |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be alleviating |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been alleviating |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Heavy rains in March alleviated the drought conditions.
- Western aid has helped to alleviate the situation in northern India.
- You can't cure a common cold, but you can alleviate the symptoms.
- Bee stings have been known to alleviate the symptoms of arthritis.
- Clinton also asked Glickman to report back within 30 days with recommendations to help alleviate debt problems afflicting cattle producers.
- It works immediately to alleviate cracking and smooth away dryness and scaling.
- Kino was a great humanitarian who sought to alleviate hunger wherever he went.
- Many conditions associated with old age can be treated and alleviated, if not cured.
- Warming up will alleviate the tension and ground your thoughts.
THESAURUSto reduce prices, numbers, or amounts
to make the price, amount, or size of something less or smaller: · The price was reduced by 50%.· We need to reduce the amount of salt in our diet.
to reduce something, especially by a large amount – used about prices, costs, jobs, or the time needed to do something: · Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs.· The journey time will be cut to under 2 hours.· Staff numbers have been cut by half to about 150.
to reduce the level, limit, or amount of something. Lower sounds rather formal: · The voting age was lowered to 18.· The government decided to lower interest rates by 0.5%.· After twenty minutes, lower the temperature to 150 degrees.
to reduce something such as prices or costs, or reduce the level of something. Bring something down is less formal than lower: · The government wants to bring down the level of inflation.· The company is trying to bring its costs down.
informal to reduce an amount or price by a very large amount – used especially in newspapers and advertisements: · Public spending has been slashed over the past two years.· Prices slashed for one week only!
to reduce the amount of something – used especially about people deciding to spend less, do less, or use less of something: · The education budget has been cut back again.· I need to cut back on my workload.
to reduce the number of people employed in order to reduce costs – used about a company or organization: · The company is planning to downsize its European operations.
to reduce the size or the amount of money that is being spent on something: · The research programme has been scaled down.· The navy is being scaled down.
to make pain or feelings less unpleasant: · The drug is used to relieve pain.· A joke can help to ease the tension.
formal to reduce pain or suffering, or make a problem less serious: · You can buy various medicines to alleviate the symptoms of flu.· The new road was supposed to alleviate the congestion problem.
Longman Language Activatorto reduce pain, worry, or unpleasant feelings · They gave him drugs to reduce the pain.· Prompt action can often reduce the severity of shock in road accident victims.· Miriam finds that yoga and meditation help her in reducing stress.greatly/significantly/dramatically reduce · Stopping smoking can significantly reduce your risk of suffering a heart attack.
to slightly reduce pain or bad feelings: · He shifted his position a little, in order to lessen the pain in his leg.· Everyone has their own ideas about the best way to lessen jet lag.· Boys are more likely to smoke to relieve stress than girls are.
to reduce the amount of work or worry that someone has: lighten somebody's load/workload: · Maybe we should hire another secretary to lighten Barbara's workload.
to make pain or feelings less unpleasant: · Peppermint has long been regarded as a plant that can relieve indigestion.· Magnetic board games can help relieve the boredom of long car journeys for kids.· Harry attempted a couple of jokes to relieve the tension of the occasion.
to reduce pain or unpleasant feelings and make someone feel happier or more comfortable: · Rod rubbed his jaw to ease the pain a little.· The arrival of the others eased her embarrassment slightly.
formal to reduce pain, make a problem less serious, or reduce feelings such as being bored or anxious: · You can't cure a common cold, but you can alleviate the symptoms.· Western aid has helped to alleviate the situation in northern India.
to reduce physical pain or emotional problems, especially with the result that you feel nothing at all: · They gave me a local anaesthetic to deaden the pain.· It was impossible not to think about her baby, but the drugs dulled her panic.
to make something such as pain, hunger, or a shock slightly less unpleasant or upsetting: · I took a couple of painkillers, which took the edge off the pain.· Knowing that Peter was close by took the edge off my anxiety for my grandson.
: allay somebody's fears/concern/suspicions etc formal to make someone much less frightened, concerned etc: · The government is anxious to allay public fears over the safety of beef.· Showing her his identity card went some way towards allaying her suspicions.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of fluCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
to make something less painful or difficult to deal withalleviate the problem/situation/suffering etc a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu formal (=make it less severe)· The program aims to alleviate hardship among the poorest sections of society.
formal (=make it less severe)· What has the West done to alleviate poverty in the world?
formal (=make them less severe)· Take aspirin to relieve the symptoms, and keep warm.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· The new package did contain some measures to alleviate the economic cost of adjustment for the poor.· However, the lenders duly offered stop-gap measures designed to alleviate the repossession problem for 1992.· Councillors are set to consider a number of radical measures to alleviate problems with buses using the town centre.
· What has the West done to alleviate poverty in the world, apart from its leaders making pious speeches?· Money is being transferred from social programmes designed to alleviate poverty to penal programmes designed to control the poor.· Critics claimed that economic success had done little to alleviate fundamental problems of poverty and the grossly unequal distribution of income.· May we play our small part in helping to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the world.· Yet the latest wheeze among policymakers in developed countries is to alleviate poverty in developing countries with computers and mobile phones.· Although opposition to state action to alleviate poverty remained strong to the end of the century, countervailing pressures were growing.
· The proposal was designed to alleviate growing problems of congestion and pollution.· By being aware of the impact of these stresses, parents can often prevent or alleviate potential problems and anxiety. 9.· But some tablets were kindly provided and they did alleviate the problem.· Kvitne believes a program to strengthen the trunk and improve flexibility will alleviate any problems.· Promotion of the role of the Commissioner, emphasising both her capabilities and her limitations should help to alleviate this problem.· Activated charcoal, spread on a pan like baking soda, also alleviates an odor problem.· Originally, a football team was organised to help alleviate the drug problem by using sports as a cure.· The intercorporate dividend exclusion was designed to alleviate just this problem.
· The tank is slightly overcrowded but regular maintenance of the aquarium does alleviate this situation.· Dare one hope that the Murrey Report will have alleviated the situation by the time these words are read?· You and others can almost always do something to alleviate the situation.
· In the old, inherited sense fundamentalism is a good thing because it alleviates pain and suffering.· May we play our small part in helping to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the world.· She is the chairman of the Animal Defenders Youth Group, whose aim is to expose and alleviate animal suffering.
· Bee stings have been known to alleviate the symptoms of arthritis.· They can, however, be of real benefit in alleviating symptoms and side-effects.· A cold wet cloth placed on her cheeks will help alleviate the symptoms.· To alleviate the symptoms, about one in five diabetics in rich countries injects himself regularly with insulin.· This may be enough to alleviate the symptoms.
· The best way to alleviate stress is to remove the stressor.· Funding for public works, including community-based arts projects, went some way towards alleviating mass unemployment.
VERB· The proposal was designed to alleviate growing problems of congestion and pollution.· The intercorporate dividend exclusion was designed to alleviate just this problem.· Money is being transferred from social programmes designed to alleviate poverty to penal programmes designed to control the poor.· The moves are designed to alleviate Lonrho's estimated £1 billion debts.
· Promotion of the role of the Commissioner, emphasising both her capabilities and her limitations should help to alleviate this problem.· Clinton also asked Glickman to report back within 30 days with recommendations to help alleviate debt problems afflicting cattle producers.· Trade union involvement can of course help to alleviate some of the difficulties suggested above.· A To help alleviate the personal security fears of lone lady drivers, and allow drivers to make business calls whilst enroute.· Originally, a football team was organised to help alleviate the drug problem by using sports as a cure.· Now new synthetic polymers and composites may help to alleviate these vexing problems.· Tax increases were introduced on a wide range of goods and services to help alleviate the projected budget deficit.· For example, one can fulfill the role of being a food server, and thereby help to alleviate hunger.
· So the piece was solicitous in trying to alleviate the shocks by explaining that the novelist himself was shocked.· To try to alleviate that, the United Kibbutz Movement began negotiating with the major banks to reduce the debt.
a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu measures to alleviate poverty—alleviation /əˌliːviˈeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]