ALLEVIATE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Alleviate

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/əlˈiviˌeɪt/ Listen

verb

Alleviate v. t. (past & past part. alleviated; pres. part. alleviating)

To lighten or lessen the force or weight of. (Obs.) "Should no others join capable to alleviate the expense." "Those large bladders... conduce much to the alleviating of the body (of flying birds)."

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. "The calamity of the want of the sense of hearing is much alleviated by giving the use of letters."

To extenuate; to palliate. (R.) "He alleviates his fault by an excuse."

Synonyms: To lessen; diminish; soften; mitigate; assuage; abate; relieve; nullify; allay. 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.

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Etymology of 'Alleviate'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Alleviate" Quotes from Famous Books

... forlorn; summer days when you will hide in your attics, ashamed of the sunlight on your ragged garments; chill dawns when you will watch wild-eyed the suffering of those you love, helpless by reason of your poverty to alleviate their pain." ...

— They and I • Jerome K. Jerome

... Saints were the chief healers of that time. Every disease which the leeches and apothecaries could not alleviate was brought to the Saints. Some indeed were reputed specialists, and the ills they cured were known by their names. The gout was known as Saint Maurus' evil, leprosy as Job's evil, cancer was Saint Giles', chorea Saint Guy's, colds were Saint Aventinus' ill, a bloody flux Saint Fiacre's—and ...

— The Cathedral • Joris-Karl Huysmans

... true; but she's a good-natured woman, and I am so grateful to her. In Petersburg there was a moment when a chaperon was absolutely essential for me. Then she turned up. But really she is good- natured. She did a great deal to alleviate my position. I see you don't understand all the difficulty of my position...there in Petersburg," she added. "Here I'm perfectly at ease and happy. Well, of that later on, though. Then Sviazhsky—he's the marshal of the district, and he's a ...

— Anna Karenina • Leo Tolstoy

... originally dissuaded him with energy against that course which had led to his discomfiture and punishment; when arrested, his former colleague was his bail, was his companion and adviser during his trial; had endeavoured to alleviate his imprisonment; and on his release had offered to share his means with Gerard, and when these were refused, he at least supplied Gerard with a roof. And yet with all this, that abandonment of heart and brain, and deep sympathy ...

— Sybil - or the Two Nations • Benjamin Disraeli

... born to alleviate our sorrow, and soothe our anguish! who canst bid feeling's tear trickle down the obdurate cheek, or mould the iron heart, till it be pliable as a child's—why stain thy gentle dominion by inconstancy? ...

— A Love Story • A Bushman

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