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What is "alleviate"

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alleviate
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
alleviate
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
alleviate hardshipformal (= make it less severe)
▪ The program aims to alleviate hardship among the poorest sections of society.
alleviate/relieve poverty formal (= make it less severe)
▪ What has the West done to alleviate poverty in the world?
relieve/alleviate symptomsformal (= make them less severe)
▪ Take aspirin to relieve the symptoms, and keep warm.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
measure
▪ 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.
poverty
▪ 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.
problem
▪ 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.
situation
▪ 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.
suffering
▪ 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.
symptom
▪ 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.
way
▪ 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
design
▪ 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.
help
▪ 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.
try
▪ 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.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ 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.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ 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.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Alleviate

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.]

    Should no others join capable to alleviate the expense.
    --Evelyn.

    Those large bladders . . . conduce much to the alleviating of the body [of flying birds].
    --Ray.

  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.

    The calamity of the want of the sense of hearing is much alleviated by giving the use of letters.
    --Bp. Horsley.

  3. To extenuate; to palliate. [R.]

    He alleviates his fault by an excuse.
    --Johnson.

    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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
alleviate

late 15c., from Middle French allevier or directly from Late Latin alleviatus, past participle of alleviare "to lighten," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + levis "light" in weight (see lever). Related: Alleviated; alleviating.

Wiktionary
alleviate

vb. (context transitive English) To make less severe, as a pain or difficulty.

WordNet
alleviate

  1. v. 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]

Usage examples of "alleviate".

Everyone took reconstructors to at least alleviate the symptoms, and Vikki prepared supplies to treat the rest in three days.

She was unwearied in efforts to alleviate the sufferings and the weary hours of the countess, whose fervent gratitude re-acted to enhance to enthusiasm the interest of the fair ministrant.

It is wrong, we know, but the world is not governed by right, it is governed by circumstances, and all we can do is alleviate the most egregious cases.

Do commend me to the lady, and tell her, though a stranger, I feel interested in her distresses, and should be happy to have it in my power to alleviate them.

I was so dumfounded that I could offer Gwen no word of comfort to alleviate this sudden shock.

In a sense it helped to alleviate some of the depression and frustration she had been experiencing since her abortive attempt to talk to Jim before she had left England.

And what is important to understand about the prevalence of male fantasies about lesbianism and orgies is that it alleviates the pressure to perform.

The pain of separation, however, might be alleviated on his side, by preparations for the reception of his bride, as he had reason to hope that shortly after his next return into Hertfordshire, the day would be fixed that was to make him the happiest of men.

Forward-bending poses also massage the organs in the neuroendocrine axis, alleviating mood swings and insomnia associated with menopause and PMS.

Polluxans were oxygen-breathing humanoids, and I felt that even nonspecialized human medics might be able to alleviate their suffering to some degree.

Bon or Ullambana festival held when Summer is over, intended to alleviate the anguish of the dead who may have entered unhappy realms of existence such as that of Pretas or hungry ghosts.

They circled the reefs like the hands on a clock, the boredom only alleviated by two cans of iced tea and a packet of Camels.

Not only does it relax the female, who as you may know, is very frightened, but it also alleviates pain.

But the calming touch will only work for a limited time and only alleviates some of the pain.

She replied that a wife, if a good one, would have been only too happy to alleviate my troubles by sharing in them, but her mother observed that a woman of parts, after seeing to the safety of my baggage and my coach, would have busied herself in taking the necessary steps for setting me at liberty, and I supported this opinion as best indicating the real duty of a good wife.