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lighten - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'lighten' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Lighten [ v. i.]
- To descend; to light.
- To burst forth or dart, as lightning; to shine with, or like, lightning; to display a flash or flashes of lightning; to flash.
- To grow lighter; to become less dark or lowering; to brighten; to clear, as the sky.
2 . Lighten [ v. t.]
- To make light or clear; to light; to illuminate; as, to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets.
- To illuminate with knowledge; to enlighten.
- To emit or disclose in, or as in, lightning; to flash out, like lightning.
- To free from trouble and fill with joy.
- To make lighter, or less heavy; to reduce in weight; to relieve of part of a load or burden; as, to lighten a ship by unloading; to lighten a load or burden.
- To make less burdensome or afflictive; to alleviate; as, to lighten the cares of life or the burden of grief.
- To cheer; to exhilarate.

Meaning of 'lighten' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . lighten [ v]
Meaning (1):
- become more cheerful
Example in sentence:
  • after a glass of wine, he lightened up a bit
Meaning (2):
- alleviate or remove (pressure or stress) or make less oppressive
Example in sentence:
  • lighten the burden of caring for her elderly parents;
  • relieve the pressure and the stress
Meaning (3):
- reduce the weight on; make lighter
Example in sentence:
  • she lightened the load on the tired donkey
Meaning (4):
- make more cheerful
Example in sentence:
  • the conversation lightened me up a bit
Meaning (5):
- make more cheerful through the use of color
Example in sentence:
  • The paint will brighten the room
Meaning (6):
- become lighter
Example in sentence:
  • The room lightened up

Nearby Words:

lig ligament ligamental ligamentous ligan ligate ligation ligator ligature lige

See 'lighten' also in:

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