Meaning & use
relieve
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make pain, worry or discomfort less severe.
Grammar: Takes an object: relieve the pain. A reflexive form means to feel less stress.
Patterns
- relieve pain
- relieve someone of something
This tablet will relieve your headache.
Talking to a friend relieved her anxiety.
A cold cloth relieved the swelling.
verbtransitiveformal
To take a duty, task or position away from someone, or to take over from them when their shift ends.
Grammar: Often used with of for taking away: relieve someone of a duty; without of it means to take over from them.
Patterns
- relieve someone of something
- relieve someone
The captain relieved him of his command.
The night guard relieves the day guard at six.
Let me relieve you of that heavy bag.
verbtransitive
To give help or supplies to people suffering from hardship, such as a disaster or a siege.
Grammar: Takes a group of sufferers or a place as object: relieve the besieged town.
Patterns
- relieve the suffering of someone
Troops marched to relieve the besieged town.
Aid workers relieved the suffering of flood victims.
The charity relieved hunger in the region.
verbtransitive
To make something less boring or monotonous by adding variety.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with a subject that provides contrast: a bright scarf relieved the plain outfit.
Patterns
- relieve the boredom
A red scarf relieved the plain gray coat.
Jokes relieved the tension in the room.
The long drive was relieved by a stop for ice cream.
Word forms
| third person singular | relieves |
|---|---|
| past tense | relieved |
| past participle | relieved |
| -ing form | relieving |
Common combinations
- relieve pain
- The cream relieves pain in sore muscles.
- relieve pressure
- A valve relieves pressure in the tank.
- relieve stress
- Walking helps relieve stress.
- relieve symptoms
- The medicine relieves cold symptoms.
- relieve someone of a duty
- The manager relieved him of his duties.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ease
- Ease is gentler and fits milder discomfort, while relieve suggests a more noticeable reduction.
- soothe
- Soothe implies calming feelings or soreness, whereas relieve can remove a burden entirely.
- alleviate
- Alleviate is more formal and usually applies to problems and suffering, not shifts or duties.
- lessen
- Lessen just means to make smaller, without any suggestion of comfort.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: relieve or believe? relieve or relive?
relieve vs believe
Believe means to think something is true. Relieve means to ease pain or worry, and the words differ in their first syllable.
relieve vs relive
Relive means to experience something again in memory. Relieve means to ease or take over.
Practice
The nurse gave him medicine to ___ the pain in his back.
Choose one answer.
Relieve means to make pain less severe. Relive means to experience again, and retrieve means to get back, so neither fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “relieve”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.