relieve
part of speech
verb (relieve, relieves, relieved, relieving)
meaning for a pupil
1) To relieve pain, worry or a problem means to make it less or take it away. tree →
2) To relieve someone means to take over their job or duty so they can rest. tree →
3) (euphemism) To relieve yourself means to go to the toilet. tree →
4) (formal) To relieve someone of something means to take it from them. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In Isaiah it means to help and rescue people who are being treated badly, not just to ease pain. Interpretation: The prophet teaches that true worship needs justice, and Jewish tradition counts helping the oppressed as a duty toward God. In the primary lessons: In health: medicine relieves pain; ice relieves swelling. In everyday life: guards relieve each other. In stories and humour: "relieved him of his wallet" means stole it. Phrases: relieve pain, relieve stress, relieve yourself, relieved to hear.
examples
- Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Prophets ISA.1.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- This cream will relieve the itching. tree →
- A walk can relieve stress. tree →
- The night nurse relieved the day nurse at eight. tree →
- The dog went outside to relieve itself. tree →
- The waiter relieved me of my heavy coat. tree →
- I was relieved to hear that my cat was safe. tree →
- I would gladly try any remedy that may relieve my pain.' tree →
note
Spelling: "i before e" — relieve, relief. Noun: relief. Adjective: relieved (feeling better after worry). "Relieve yourself" is a polite way to say go to the toilet.
In the corpora
- Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
- "Relieve oneself" is a polite way to say urinate or poo.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «relieve» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.