relievere‧lieve /rɪˈliːv/ ●●○ S3 verb [transitive] 
Drugs helped to relieve the pain.relieve tension/pressure/stress etc Some people eat for comfort, to relieve their anxieties.2problem to make a problem less difficult or serious: programs aimed at relieving unemployment3replace somebody to replace someone when they have completed their duty or when they need a rest: The guard will be relieved at midnight.4relieve yourself a polite expression meaning to urinate – often used humorously5boring to make something less dull and boring: a plain wall relieved by flecks of blue and yellowrelieve the boredom/monotony The books helped relieve the boredom of waiting.6war formal to free a town which an enemy has surroundedCOLLOCATIONSnounsrelieve pain· What’s the best way of relieving back pain?relieve symptoms· Drinking a pint of water should help to relieve the symptoms.relieve tension· They all laughed and it helped to relieve the tension.relieve stress· Don’t resort to alcohol to relieve your stress.relieve anxiety· We offer patients a gentle massage to help relieve anxiety.relieve pressure· Doctors should have inserted a needle into the lungs to relieve the pressure.relieve somebody of something phrasal verb1formal to help someone by taking something from them, especially a job they do not want to do or something heavy that they are carrying: A secretary was hired to relieve her of some of the administrative work. He rose and relieved her of her bags.2relieve somebody of their post/duties/command etc formal to take away someone’s job because they have done something wrong: After the defeat General Meyer was relieved of his command.3to steal something from someone – used humorously: A couple of guys relieved him of his wallet.
WORD ORIGINrelieve
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French relever ‘to raise, relieve’, from Latin relevare, from levare ‘to raise’VERB TABLE
relieve
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | relieve |
| he, she, it | relieves | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | relieved |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have relieved |
| he, she, it | has relieved | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had relieved |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will relieve |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have relieved |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am relieving |
| he, she, it | is relieving | |
| you, we, they | are relieving | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was relieving |
| you, we, they | were relieving | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been relieving |
| he, she, it | has been relieving | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been relieving |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be relieving |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been relieving |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- After about 20 hours, they were relieved by another crew.
- Can anyone relieve Tammy? She's been on duty for ten hours without a break.
- Harry attempted a couple of jokes to relieve the tension of the occasion.
- He was sent to Cairo to relieve Captain Roberts for a few days.
- Just take some Tylenol to relieve the pain.
- Magnetic board games can help relieve the boredom of long car journeys for kids.
- Peppermint has long been regarded as a plant that can relieve indigestion.
- Regular exercise can relieve depression and anxiety.
- Estrogen replacement relieves such symptoms of menopause as hot flashes and night sweats, reduces bone loss and relieves vaginal dryness.
- It clearly relieved and heartened them.
- Massage-Good for general relaxation and to relieve stress buildup in the muscle tissue.
- Near the end Joey Beauchamp relieved the pain with his second goal of the season.
- What can you do to relieve those of your colleagues or staff?
THESAURUS
to make someone who has an illness completely well again or to stop a disease making someone ill – used especially about drugs or other treatments: · Many cancer victims can be cured if the disease is detected early enough.
to cure someone – used especially when someone cures people using special religious powers, rather than using medicine. Also used when saying that a cream or treatment makes a wound better: · He claimed that he could heal the sick.· This cream is good for healing minor cuts and bruises.
to make someone who is ill well again, especially when they have an illness that is not very serious: · The pills did make me feel better.
(also alleviate formal) to reduce someone’s pain or unpleasant feelings: · Aspirin will help to relieve the symptoms.· I can give you something to alleviate the pain.
to 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 try to make a situation less boring · Sometimes she would try out different routes to relieve the monotony of her daily journey.· Harry tried to relieve the boredom by singing and whistling.
when someone is forced to leave their job · After she lost her job, she got more and more depressed and started drinking heavily.· Many people won't complain about pay and conditions because they're terrified of losing their jobs.
also dismiss formal to make someone leave their job, especially because they have done something wrong: · He was just impossible to work with, and in the end they fired him.· Harris was caught stealing, and was dismissed immediately.· You're fired!fire/dismiss somebody for something: · She was fired for serious professional misconduct.fire from: · When Max was fired from his job the whole family had to pack up and leave town.· A New York art teacher who refused to take part in the daily flag ceremony was dismissed from her post.
British to make someone leave their job, for example, because they are not good enough at it, they are no longer needed, or they have done something wrong: · We can't really give him the sack just because he's unpopular.sack somebody for something: · He was sacked for being drunk in the office.get the sack (=be sacked): · He had the good luck to work in an old family firm when nobody ever got the sack.
to make workers, especially workers in a large factory or organization, leave their jobs, because there is not enough work for them to do, or not enough money to pay their wages: lay off somebody/lay somebody off: · 3000 car workers have been laid off at the factory in Cleveland.
British to make someone leave their job, and usually pay them some money to do so, because they are no longer needed: · At least 2,000 computer programmers have been made redundant in the past year.· We lost our home when my husband was made redundant five years ago.
British a situation in which someone has to leave their job, and is usually paid some money to do so, because they are no longer needed by their company: · These redundancies are necessary for the company to be able to survive.· The board are planning a restructuring which could mean hundreds of redundancies.voluntary redundancy (=when a company asks workers if they want to leave their jobs, and offers to pay them money to do so): · We hope to achieve staffing cuts through voluntary redundancy and a freeze on recruitment.
to make someone leave a job or organization temporarily, either as a punishment for doing something wrong, or while the organization tries to find out whether they have done something wrong or not: · Two senior officials have been suspended on full pay pending a second internal inquiry.suspend from: · The Police Department has suspended six officers from duty while they investigate claims of fraud and corruption.
to tell someone that they must leave their job, either immediately or in a week, a month etc: · The company are planning to close down, and we've all been given two weeks' notice.· In the course of restructuring, over half the workforce were given their notice.
if someone with an important official job is relieved of their duties or post , their job is taken away from them, especially for a short time because people think they have done something very bad and this is being checked: · The Chief Inspector has been relieved of his duties pending another investigation by fellow officers.· The authorities have decided to relieve the professor of his post at the university until further notice, after complaints were made by one of his female students.
to 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.
to do someone's job or work for a temporary period to replace someone at work for a short time or on a particular occasion, because they are unable to be there: · Can you stand in for me at the meeting next week?· The President was unavailable and had the Vice President stand in for him.· During the dangerous scenes, a stunt woman stood in for Goldie Hawn.
to replace someone and do the same job as they were doing, so that they are free to have a rest or to do something else: · Liz, could you take over in reception while I make a couple of phone calls?take over from/for: · Can I see you in my office, Carl? I'm sure Dan can take over from you.take over something: · After we'd stopped for lunch Sheila took over the driving for a while.
also deputise British to replace someone in a higher position for a limited period or on a particular occasion, especially when they are busy doing something else: · My boss had to go to the Caribbean unexpectedly and asked me to deputize.deputize for: · The Foreign Minister will be deputizing for the Prime Minister while he recovers from his operation.· Paine, the second in command, deputized for the Colonel.
American informal to replace someone at work on a particular occasion, especially as a teacher or a member of a sports team: · Could you sub for me Monday? I have a doctor's appointment.· Eisenreich subbed for the injured Alou in Wednesday's game.
to replace someone, especially a soldier, when they need a rest or when they have completed their hours of work: · Can anyone relieve Tammy? She's been on duty for ten hours without a break.· He was sent to Cairo to relieve Captain Roberts for a few days.
to do the work, or to be ready to do the work, of someone who is absent: · Go and get some lunch. I'll cover for you.· My name's Dr Brown. I'm covering for Dr Steele while he's on holiday.
WORD SETSaction stations, nounaide-de-camp, nounairborne, adjectiveaircraft carrier, nounairlift, nounallied, adjectivearmour, nounarms control, nounarms race, nounarray, verbassault course, nounAWOL, adjectivebalance of power, nounbandmaster, nounbandsman, nounbase, nounbattle, nounbattle, verbbattle cry, nounbattlefield, nounbattlements, nounbeachhead, nounbivouac, nounblackout, nounblast, verbblitz, nounblockade, nounblockade, verbblockhouse, nounbloodshed, nounbody bag, nounbody count, nounbomb, verbbombard, verbbombardment, nounbomb disposal, nounboot camp, nounbowman, nounbreastplate, nounbridgehead, nounbunker, nouncall-up, nouncannonade, nouncapability, nouncaptain, nouncapture, nouncarrier, nouncashier, verbcenotaph, nounchief of staff, nouncitation, nouncivil defence, nounC.O., nouncommand, nouncommand, verbcommandant, nouncommander, nouncommander in chief, nouncommand post, nouncommissariat, nouncommissary, nouncommission, nouncommissioned officer, nounconquer, verbconquest, nounconscientious objector, nounconscript, verbconscript, nounconscription, nounconvoy, verbcookhouse, nounCorp., corporal, nouncorps, nouncounterinsurgency, nouncounterintelligence, nouncountermand, verbcounter-revolution, nouncourt-martial, nouncourt-martial, verbcross, noundawn raid, noundeath camp, noundemilitarize, verbdemobilize, verbdeploy, verbdetonate, verbdisarm, verbdisarmament, noundispatch, noundraft board, noundraft card, noundraft dodger, noundraftee, noundress uniform, noundrum major, noundump, nounechelon, nounencamp, verbenemy, nounengage, verbengagement, nounenlist, verbenlisted, adjectiveexchange, nounex-serviceman, nounex-servicewoman, nounfield, verbfirst lieutenant, nounfirst strike, nounflak jacket, nounflash, nounfort, nounfortress, nounfoxhole, nounFPO, front, noungas mask, noungeneral headquarters, nounGHQ, nounguardhouse, nounheadquarters, nounhigh command, nounHQ, nounincursion, nounindefensible, adjectiveinsignia, nouninstallation, nouninsubordination, nounintelligence, nouninternment, nouninvade, verbinvader, nouninvasion, nounkit bag, nounKP, nounlieutenant, nounline, nounMaj., major, nounmajor general, nounman, nounmarch, verbmarch, nounmarch-past, nounmarshal, nounmassacre, nounmassacre, verbmess, nounmess, verbmilitarism, nounmilitarized, adjectiveMilitary Academy, nounMilitary Cross, nounmilitary service, nounmilitia, nounmilitiaman, nounminuteman, nounmission, nounMP, nounmutineer, nounmutinous, adjectivemutiny, nounnational service, nounNATO, nounNCO, nounno-man's-land, nounnon-aggression, nounnon-aligned, adjectivenon-combatant, nounobjective, nounobservation post, nounoccupation, nounoccupy, verboffence, nounoffensive, adjectiveoffensive, nounofficer, nounoperation, nounorderly, nounoutflank, verboutpost, nounoverthrow, verboverwhelm, verbpact, nounpadre, nounparade, nounparamilitary, adjectiveparapet, nounpartisan, nounpassword, nounpatrol, nounperilous, adjectiveperiscope, nounpillbox, nounpincer movement, nounpost, verbPOW, nounpre-war, adjectiveprisoner, nounprisoner of war, nounPurple Heart, nounpush, nounputsch, nounPX, nounquarter, verbquartermaster, nounquell, verbR & R, nounraid, nounraid, verbrank, nounrebellion, nounrecapture, verbreconnaissance, nounreconnoitre, verbrecruit, verbrecruit, nounreinforce, verbrelieve, verbRemembrance Day, nounrepel, verbrequisition, verbretake, verbretire, verbretreat, verbretreat, nounreview, nounreview, verbribbon, nounsabre-rattling, nounsally, nounsalute, verbsalute, nounsalvo, nounsamurai, nounscorched earth policy, nounscout, nounscout, verbscramble, verbsecond lieutenant, nounsentinel, nounsentry, nounsentry box, nounsergeant, nounsergeant major, nounserviceman, nounservicewoman, nounSgt., shell, verbshelling, nounsiege, nounskirmish, nounstaff officer, nounstaging area, nounstandard-issue, adjectivestar, nounstation, nounstation, verbstrategic, adjectivestrategist, nounstrategy, nounstripe, nounstronghold, nounsuperpower, nounsuppress, verbsurgical strike, nounsurrender, verbsurrender, nountactical, adjectivetarget, nountarget, verbtask force, nountattoo, nountheatre, nountrench warfare, nountripwire, nountruce, nounturret, noununarmed, adjectiveunoccupied, adjectivevalour, nounveteran, nounvolunteer, nounvolunteer, verbwar chest, nounwar crime, nounwar cry, nounwar dance, nounwar effort, nounwarfare, nounwarhorse, nounwarlike, adjectivewarlord, nounwar memorial, nounwarmonger, nounwarrant officer, nounwarring, adjectivewarrior, nounwar-torn, adjectivewar widow, nounwar zone, nounwounded, adjectivezero hour, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYnouns a game to relieve the boredom of a long journey He suggested a card game to relieve the monotony of the journey. There are plans to relieve overcrowding in the village. We sang while we worked, to relieve the tedium.
· What’s the best way of relieving back pain?
· Drinking a pint of water should help to relieve the symptoms.
· They all laughed and it helped to relieve the tension.
· Don’t resort to alcohol to relieve your stress.
· We offer patients a gentle massage to help relieve anxiety.
· Doctors should have inserted a needle into the lungs to relieve the pressure.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES· The drug helps to reduce anxiety, allowing you to feel relaxed.
a game to relieve the boredom of a long journey formal (=lose your military position because you have done something wrong)· The General was relieved of his command due to misconduct.
He suggested a card game to relieve the monotony of the journey. There are plans to relieve overcrowding in the village. (also alleviate pain formal) (=make it less severe)· Exercise can help to relieve lower back pain.
formal (=make it less severe)· What has the West done to alleviate poverty in the world?
· Don’t resort to alcohol to relieve your stress.
formal (=make them less severe)· Take aspirin to relieve the symptoms, and keep warm.
We sang while we worked, to relieve the tedium.· Breathing deeply helps to clear my mind and reduce tension.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· In many ways I was greatly relieved as it had become obvious to me that he wasn't well.· The party was greatly relieved to get the whole business over and done with.· At first there was no response to Cleo's knock, at which Dauntless was greatly relieved.
· She was so relieved to hear this that she could not make any further self-sacrifice.· I jogged, sprinted towards my inanimate friend and when I got there I was so relieved I wanted to cry.· It had taken two of them to free me from the current and I was so relieved.· I was so relieved I went to bed for two days.· She was so relieved that she had saved him.· I was so relieved that I even gave them time to finish their ice creams.· Laura was so relieved that she could only nod silently while she followed him out of the room.· We were so relieved to have got away and to somewhere nice.
· She says they were very relieved and thanked those who had helped the family.· I felt guilty, but secretly I was very relieved.· She was very relieved, so much so that she felt weak.· Male speaker I was really really happy because we had nine days off school I was very relieved.
· She was relieved when the New Year arrived and things returned to normal.· He was relieved when he saw Earnhardt's trademark sly smile.· I will be profoundly relieved when I can escape from the prosaic explanations and defences of this present sprawling mess of words.· I try hard not to look awed and am relieved when I manage to appear nothing more than suitably impressed.· The knife frightened her, and she was relieved when he threw it down.· I am relieved when I get sick once again, just as I have before at times of unbearable tension.· For once she was relieved when her shift was over and it was time to go home.· He was anxious about her tonight and more than relieved when he found out she was all right.
NOUN· To relieve anxiety about funeral costs, we will introduce a funeral payment of £600, available on request.· And as they get older, they do everything conceivable to relieve that anxiety of that closeness.· Free discussion about attitudes to a problem will relieve anxiety, and mutual support can be obtained.· Containment relieves anxiety about strong feelings and impulses getting out of control.· This will go some way towards relieving the anxiety of those who felt that the fine and reprimands were far too limp.
· Pleasure will also follow from moving from a low level to a higher one: the relieving of boredom.· He attempts reading it upside down, which temporarily relieves the boredom.· These inventions not only relieved the boredom but gave escape from pain.
· To relieve policyholders of this burden, we have now index-linked everyone's cover.· We have tried to explain to the government that by moving, the Rabari are relieving it of a burden.· She added, by way of conversation, that she must wait patiently to be relieved of the burden of living.· Moreover, a lot of money would be left over to relieve the tax burden.· It would relieve us of the burden of suppressed emotion.
· Falkenhayn was relieved of his command by the Kaiser in August and replaced by Hindenburg and Ludendorff.· Within two weeks of the attack, both men were relieved of their commands and automatically demoted to two-star rank.· It was a dismal day at Frederick when the news was promulgated that General Hooker was relieved of the command.· Army officers whose commissions were based on nothing more than a personal friendship with Santa Anna were relieved of their commands.· This is exactly what happened when John MacLeod was relieved of his command.
· Yith Kim Seng, Minister of Health, was also relieved of his duties.· All three asked to be relieved of this duty.· Friends of the family discovered their coupons returned or were relieved of the duty of delivering them.· Of the first 126 soldiers relieved from duty in an army recruiting scandal, only three were officers.· He was relieved from duty by the end of the week.· The day was too much, and the battalion commander requested to be relieved of his duty.· In the spring of 1993, Li suffered a heart attack and was relieved of more duties.
· This year's card would relieve the monotony.
· She was given pain relieving drugs and placed on intravenous drips to replace vital blood plasma and fluids.· Ulcer pain is relieved by food and tends to come back an hour or more after eating.
· Yeltsin signed a decree relieving him of his post on Oct. 23.
· But such a strategy would serve primarily to relieve some symptoms of poverty rather than its cause.· Liberals want more comprehensive child care, more programs to relieve child poverty.
· Sometimes centres were able to relieve any additional pressure on staff by allocating the equivalent of two places to one child.· It would relieve the pressure from the peace groups in the United States and mollify many of the doves.· If all else fails, you may be advised to have an operation to relieve the pressure on the nerve.· He expected to coach a few years under Parker to relieve some pressure, then pursue a head-coaching job.· It knew the bank's position; it knew how much liquidity to inject to relieve the pressure.· When he played for Phoenix, Ceballos came off the bench to relieve pressure on Charles Barkley with his shooting.· Intended to relieve pressure on the most popular courses, the system should be up and running this spring.· We dared leave the leeboards no more than half way down, with ropes and guys rigged to relieve the sideways pressure.
· There was some return of pain and numbness after 24 hours, but repeating the dose relieved the problem.· Such comprehensive supervision and reporting can actually reduce client costs, and relieve clients of the problems inherent in cleaning any premises.· However, its benefits were confined to those already holding land, and it did nothing to relieve the problem of landlessness.· To relieve the unskilled operator problem much of the decision making is now handled by the program rather than the user.· In 1934 a new unemployment Act was passed which went some way towards relieving a gradually diminishing problem.
· However, this does not relieve the individual from responsibility.· The corollary is that acquiring an addiction is tantamount to relieving oneself of personal responsibility.· Still, most of us were glad to be relieved of responsibility for our failing learners for a few months.· By relieving it of responsibility for details, Parliament was thereby able to concentrate on major issues of policy.· More mobile than ever before, big businesses can bully governments into relieving them of their responsibilities.· Is the client entitled to be relieved of responsibility on the basis that the contractor would have been late anyway?
· Stonehouse, intended to relieve Glasgow's housing stress, was abandoned in 1976.· Massage-Good for general relaxation and to relieve stress buildup in the muscle tissue.· What can you do to relieve your own stress levels?.· Next, learn to pause and de-stress, because relieving stress can save your life!· They also relieve stress on the elbows.· We thought it was a terrific benefit and would relieve a lot of stress.· Don't resort to alcohol to relieve your stress.· The workouts were intended to relieve stress, but they were for vanity, too.
· These are useful in relieving some of the symptoms of underdevelopment.· Seldane was first introduced in 1985, the first prescription antihistamine to relieve hayfever symptoms without drowsiness.· A colostomy was performed in an attempt to relieve her large bowel symptoms, and subsequently closed.· But such a strategy would serve primarily to relieve some symptoms of poverty rather than its cause.· Estrogen replacement relieves such symptoms of menopause as hot flashes and night sweats, reduces bone loss and relieves vaginal dryness.
· To relieve the tedium of the days they sang, or told stories to Enoch.· She would have welcomed a raging tempest or a blistering drought - anything to relieve the endless tedium of her situation.· Stress also relieves the tedium of everyday life.
· If the way is clear, run towards the kite and relieve the tension on the single line.· Being under tremendous stress, facing death, they relieved their tensions by cursing their situations.· There are alternatives which relieve our immediate tension.· We just did it to get off, to relieve some of the tension.· For some, it's the chewing itself that relieves tension.· The leader occasionally does some-thing totally outrageous to relieve the tension.· So she had to express them, and relieve her tensions, with those stormy little displays of temper.· Perhaps that was what she needed to relieve the tension.
VERB· It left him, and he felt relaxed and relieved.· Yet part of me felt almost relieved.· He felt guilty but relieved that he had not put his name to it.· He felt a relieved smile spreading over his face and something like freedom in his heart.· When his oration ended, the rector felt sufficiently relieved to try and figure out what to do.· Cefalo said he felt Shula looked relieved.· I feel relieved and soft and a little girlish and I am happy.· If the reports were bad, he felt relieved because they gave added assurance that the capital was safe.
· Body beautiful A home massage will tone and improve circulation and help to relieve aching limbs.· Baking soda will help relieve some odors.· Besides massage, a good soak in a bath can help to relieve the post-race fatigue in your legs.· Acetaminophen or ibuprofen will help relieve some of the pain.
· She denied it, but her attitude changed - she seemed to be petulantly relieved.· She seemed relieved when he turned down her offer to come live with them.· It seems to relieve wind and discomfort gently and soothingly without any stress on the baby.· I had thought Derek and Kitty would resent my constant presence, but both seemed relieved.· Some one, it seemed, had relieved Stanley of his bargain.· Petey seemed relieved to hear she had a plan.· As I thought, Kovacs seemed relieved.· Margaret and a few others seemed relieved to get him down, his canes clattering and his body folding in half.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► relieve somebody of their post/duties/command etc
1pain to reduce someone’s pain or unpleasant feelings: - After rolling on the sand in excruciating pain until stars lit up the sky, he relieved himself for a good half-hour.
- By releasing it into the world, he relieved himself and taunted the fates to punish him.
- Cocaine users often feel as though they need the drug to relieve themselves of the tired feeling and to function normally.
- Missus Hall would relieve herself on old newspapers in the alleyways on Central Avenue.
- On average, young puppies may relieve themselves about six times a day.
- The corollary is that acquiring an addiction is tantamount to relieving oneself of personal responsibility.
- Threlfall turned his back and waited for the man to finish relieving himself.
- When their overlords came out to relieve themselves in the snow, the serfs collected the urine to drink.
Drugs helped to relieve the pain.relieve tension/pressure/stress etc Some people eat for comfort, to relieve their anxieties.2problem to make a problem less difficult or serious: programs aimed at relieving unemployment3replace somebody to replace someone when they have completed their duty or when they need a rest: The guard will be relieved at midnight.4relieve yourself a polite expression meaning to urinate – often used humorously5boring to make something less dull and boring: a plain wall relieved by flecks of blue and yellowrelieve the boredom/monotony The books helped relieve the boredom of waiting.6war formal to free a town which an enemy has surroundedCOLLOCATIONSnounsrelieve pain· What’s the best way of relieving back pain?relieve symptoms· Drinking a pint of water should help to relieve the symptoms.relieve tension· They all laughed and it helped to relieve the tension.relieve stress· Don’t resort to alcohol to relieve your stress.relieve anxiety· We offer patients a gentle massage to help relieve anxiety.relieve pressure· Doctors should have inserted a needle into the lungs to relieve the pressure.relieve somebody of something phrasal verb1formal to help someone by taking something from them, especially a job they do not want to do or something heavy that they are carrying: A secretary was hired to relieve her of some of the administrative work. He rose and relieved her of her bags.2relieve somebody of their post/duties/command etc formal to take away someone’s job because they have done something wrong: After the defeat General Meyer was relieved of his command.3to steal something from someone – used humorously: A couple of guys relieved him of his wallet.