brighten

«brighten» in Mova's school dictionary: To become brighter or lighter, or to make something… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (brighten, brightens, brightened, brightening)

meaning for a pupil

1) To become brighter or lighter, or to make something brighter: «The sky brightened after the rain». tree →

2) To become happier or more cheerful, or to make someone happier: «Her face brightened». tree →

3) To make a place more colourful or pleasant: «Flowers brighten up the classroom». tree →

sense in the lessons

In weather reports «it will brighten later» means the clouds will clear and the sun may come out. In stories a face brightening shows a character suddenly feels happy or hopeful. In art and design pupils brighten a picture with lighter colours. Phrases: brighten up, brighten someone's day.

examples

• The sky brightened in the afternoon. tree →
• Your card really brightened my day. tree →
• Her eyes brightened when she saw the puppy. tree →
• We brightened up the classroom with paintings. tree →
• The forecast says it will brighten up after lunch. tree →
• A coat of yellow paint brightened the old shed. tree →
• Grandma brightens whenever we visit. tree →
• When the hunter's tale of the stranger's arrow reached the ears of the chieftain, his face brightened with a smile. tree →

note

Double the «t»? No: brighten, brightened. «Brighten up» is common in everyday speech. The opposite is «darken» or, for mood, «sadden».

In the corpora

• Toad brightens: «perhaps I am a bit of a talker...

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «brighten» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.