relieve

comfort, console, ease, soothe, relieve

动词 relieve:

1. provide physical relief, as from pain
   同义词：alleviate, palliate, assuage
2. free someone temporarily from his or her obligations
   同义词：take over
3. grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to
   同义词：exempt, free
4. lessen the intensity of or calm
   同义词：still, allay, ease
5. save from ruin, destruction, or harm
   同义词：salvage, salve, save
6. relieve oneself of troubling information
   同义词：unbosom
7. alleviate or remove (pressure or stress) or make less oppressive
   同义词：lighten
8. provide relief for
   同义词：remedy
9. free from a burden, evil, or distress
10. take by stealing
11. grant exemption or release to
    同义词：excuse, let off, exempt

1. The Government acted quickly to relieve the widespread distress caused by the earthquake.
   地震造成广泛地区的灾难，政府迅速采取行动赈济灾民。
2. The route was designed to relieve traffic congestion.
   这条路是为缓解交通拥挤而开辟的。
3. This medicine will relieve your headache.
   这药将减轻你的头痛。
4. He was relieved of his watch.
   他的表被偷走了。
5. The general was relieved of his command.
   将军被解除了指挥权。

re.lieve

v.tr.（及物动词）
re.lieved,re.liev.ing,re.lieves
To cause a lessening or alleviation of:
减缓：导致…的减轻或缓和：
例句：
relieved all his symptoms; relieved the tension.
减轻了他的所有症状；缓和紧张局面

To free from pain, anxiety, or distress.
免于痛苦：脱离痛苦，焦虑或者苦恼
To furnish assistance or aid to.
救济：为…提供帮助或援助
To rescue from siege.
弛缓：从围困解救出来
To release (a person) from an obligation, a restriction, or a burden, as by law or legislation.
解除义务：解除（一个人的）义务，限止或负担，如通过法律或立法方式解除
To free from a specified duty by providing or acting as a substitute.
使替班：用提供或充当替代物的方式从特定的义务中解脱出来
To make less tedious, monotonous, or unpleasant:
给予变化：使变得较不乏味，较不单调或较不令人不快：
例句：
Only one small candle relieved the gloom.
只要有一支小小的蜡烛就能增添朦胧的意境

To make prominent or effective by contrast; set off.
使醒目：通过比较变得突出或印象深刻的；衬托出
Informal To rob or deprive:
【非正式用语】 抢劫或掠夺：
例句：
Pickpockets relieved him of his money.
扒手偷走了他的钱

<习惯用语>relieve oneself
To urinate or defecate.
排泄：小便或大便
来源：
Middle English releven
中古英语 releven
from Old French relever
源自 古法语 relever
from Latin relev3re
源自 拉丁语 relev3re
re- [re-]
re- [前缀，表.后退.]
lev3re [to raise] * see leg wh-
lev3re [提高] *参见 leg wh-

【引伸】
reliev.able
adj.（形容词）
reliev.er
n.（名词）
<参考词汇><同义词>relieve,allay,alleviate,assuage,lighten,mitigate,palliateAll of these verbs mean to make something less severe or more bearable.Torelieve is to ease and make more endurable something causing discomfort or distress:
所有这些动词意味着使某事变得不太严重或更可忍受。Relieve 指缓解或使造成不快或压抑的某事变得可以忍受：
例句：
.that misery which he strives in vain to relieve. (Henry David Thoreau).
.他徒劳地奋力去减轻苦难. （亨利·戴维·梭罗）。

例句：
.The counselor relieved her fears. (Sir Walter Scott).
.顾问消除了她的恐惧. （瓦尔特·施科特爵士）。

Allay suggests relief at least for the time being from what is burdensome or painful:
Allay 意味着至少是暂时从造成负担或痛苦的事物中解脱出来：
例句：
.This music crept by me upon the waters,/Allaying both their fury and my passion/With its sweet air. (Shakespeare).
.在水面音乐爬上我的心头/平息了他们的愤怒和我的热情/用它甜美的声音. （莎士比亚）。

Alleviate connotes temporary lessening of distress without removal of its cause:
Alleviate 指短暂的减轻压抑而没有解决其根源：
例句：
.No arguments shall be wanting on my part that can alleviate so severe a misfortune. (Jane Austen).Toassuage is to soothe or make milder:
.对我来说要减轻如此严重的不幸，不需要任何争论. （简·奥斯汀）。Assuage 是抚慰或使更适度：

例句：
.What shall assuage the unforgotten pain/And teach the unforgetful to forgetô. (Dante Gabriel Rossetti).
.什么会抚慰不能忘却的痛苦/并且让无法忘怀的人学会遗忘ô. （但丁·加布利亚尔·罗塞蒂）。

Lighten in this comparison signifies to make less heavy or oppressive:
Lighten 在这种比较中指使变得不太沉重或不太压抑：
例句：
Congress endeavored to lighten the taxpayers` burden.
国会努力减轻纳税人的负担。

Mitigate andpalliate connote moderating the severity, force, or intensity of something that causes suffering:
Mitigate 和palliate 都意味着减弱造成痛苦的事物严重性、力量或强度：
例句：
.I . . . prayed to the Lord to mitigate a calamity which seemed to me past the capacity of man to remedy. (John Galt).
.我…向上帝祈祷，祈求他减轻这场人力所不能补救的灾难. （约翰·加尔特）。

例句：
.His well-known financial ability made men turn to him in the hour of distress, as of all statesmen the most fitted to palliate it. (William E.H. Lecky).
.他广为人知的融资能力使得人们在痛苦的时候向他求助，就象最合适的政治家来减轻它一样. （威廉E·H·勒凯）