Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: WELFARE

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: relever; RELIEVE

relief

 noun
     
re‧lief S2 W2
1

comfort

[singular, uncountable] a feeling of comfort when something frightening, worrying, or painful has ended or has not happened [↪ relieve]:
I felt a huge surge of relief and happiness.
with relief
He watched with relief as the girl nodded.
in relief
He laughed in relief.
No one was hurt, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
it is a relief to see/have/know etc something
I hate to say it, but it was a relief to have him out of the house.
to somebody's relief
To my relief, they spoke English.
what a relief/that's a relief
The doctor said it was just the flu. What a relief!
2

reduction of pain

[uncountable] when something reduces someone's pain or unhappy feelings:
Marijuana can provide pain relief for some cancer patients.
relief of
the relief of suffering
relief from
The cool room provided relief from the terrible heat outdoors.
3

help

[uncountable] money, food, clothes etc given to people who are poor or hungry:
money raised for the relief effort
disaster/famine/flood etc relief
famine relief for victims of the drought
4

replacement

[uncountable] a person or group of people that replaces another one and does their work after they have finished:
the relief for the military guard
a relief driver
5

decoration

[uncountable and countable]AV a way of decorating wood, stone etc with a shape or figure that is raised above the surface, or the decoration itself [↪ bas relief]
in relief
figures carved in relief
6

bring/throw something into relief

also stand out in relief to make something very noticeable, or to be very noticeable
sharp/stark relief
The tree stood out in stark relief against the snow.
The article throws into sharp relief the differences between the two theories.
7

light/comic relief

a funny moment during a serious film, book, or situation:
a moment of comic relief
8

money

[uncountable] old-fashioned especially American EnglishPEW money given by the government to help people who are poor, old, unemployed etc [= welfare]
on relief
families on relief during the Depression
9

war

[uncountable]PM formal the act of freeing a town when it has been surrounded by an enemy
relief of
the relief of Mafeking
10

map

in relief

SG if you show a part of the Earth's surface in relief, you show the differences in height between different parts of it
Definition of relief from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic WELFARE
Word of the Day
The WELFARE
Word of the Day is:
sickness benefit

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