The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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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. -
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. -
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.
Wiktionary
vb. (present participle of alleviate English)
Usage examples of "alleviating".
We pray that the hand of God be upon this world alleviating suffering and bringing peace to this earth plane.
Tonight was the culmination of many months of hard work, bringing Michael's plight to the attention of the country via the media, raising money through all manner of events for research into ways of alleviating the distressing physical and mental deterioration suffered by children like Michael, children who rarely survived to adulthood--although there were varying degrees of severity and admittedly there had been very rare instances in which male children born to female carriers of the gene seemed to have escaped unscathed but these instances were far too rare to form the basis for any kind of detailed research.
For the same reason I experimented with victims who had taken opium, for a change of pace, for the express purpose of alleviating boredom.
Even the suspicion that we might be the prey of others was a factor in alleviating our boredom.