Alleviate

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alleviate \Al*le"vi*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Alleviated}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Alleviating}.] [LL. alleviare, fr. L. ad +
     levis light. See {Alegge}, {Levity}.]
     1. To lighten or lessen the force or weight of. [Obs.]
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              Should no others join capable to alleviate the
              expense.                              --Evelyn.
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              Those large bladders . . . conduce much to the
              alleviating of the body [of flying birds]. --Ray.
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     2. To lighten or lessen (physical or mental troubles); to
        mitigate, or make easier to be endured; as, to alleviate
        sorrow, pain, care, etc.; -- opposed to {aggravate}.
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              The calamity of the want of the sense of hearing is
              much alleviated by giving the use of letters. --Bp.
                                                    Horsley.
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     3. To extenuate; to palliate. [R.]
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              He alleviates his fault by an excuse. --Johnson.
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     Syn: To lessen; diminish; soften; mitigate; assuage; abate;
          relieve; nullify; allay.
  
     Usage: To {Alleviate}, {Mitigate}, {Assuage}, {Allay}. These
            words have in common the idea of relief from some
            painful state; and being all figurative, they differ
            in their application, according to the image under
            which this idea is presented. Alleviate supposes a
            load which is lightened or taken off; as, to alleviate
            one's cares. Mitigate supposes something fierce which
            is made mild; as, to mitigate one's anguish. Assuage
            supposes something violent which is quieted; as, to
            assuage one's sorrow. Allay supposes something
            previously excited, but now brought down; as, to allay
            one's suffering or one's thirst. To alleviate the
            distresses of life; to mitigate the fierceness of
            passion or the violence of grief; to assuage angry
            feeling; to allay wounded sensibility.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  alleviate
       v 1: provide physical relief, as from pain; "This pill will
            relieve your headaches" [syn: {relieve}, {palliate}, {assuage}]
       2: make easier; "you could facilitate the process by sharing
          your knowledge" [syn: {facilitate}, {ease}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  88 Moby Thesaurus words for "alleviate":
     abate, allay, anesthetize, appease, assuage, attemper, attenuate,
     bank the fire, bate, be light, benumb, blunt, chasten, constrain,
     control, cure, cushion, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden,
     deaden the pain, dilute, diminish, disburden, disencumber,
     downplay, dull, ease, ease matters, extenuate, foment, give relief,
     have little weight, keep within bounds, kick the beam, lay, lenify,
     lessen, lighten, lull, make light, make lighter, mitigate,
     moderate, modulate, mollify, numb, obtund, off-load, pad, palliate,
     play down, poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, reduce,
     reduce the temperature, reduce weight, relieve, remedy, remit,
     restrain, salve, slacken, slake, slow down, smother, sober,
     sober down, soften, soothe, stifle, stupe, subdue, suppress, tame,
     temper, tone down, tune down, unballast, unburden, underplay,
     unlade, unload, water down, weaken, weigh lightly