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Definition of Lighten
1. Verb. Make more cheerful. "The conversation lightened me up a bit"
Generic synonyms: Cheer
Causes: Buoy Up, Lighten Up
Antonyms: Weigh Down
2. Verb. Reduce the weight on; make lighter. "She lightened the load on the tired donkey"
3. Verb. Become more cheerful. "After a glass of wine, he lightened up a bit"
4. Verb. Make lighter or brighter. "The paint will brighten the room"
5. Verb. Become lighter. "The room lightened up"
Generic synonyms: Change
Specialized synonyms: Irradiate, Illume, Illuminate, Illumine, Light, Light Up
Antonyms: Darken
6. Verb. Alleviate or remove (pressure or stress) or make less oppressive. "Lighten the burden of caring for her elderly parents"
Definition of Lighten
1. v. i. To descend; to light.
2. v. i. To burst forth or dart, as lightning; to shine with, or like, lightning; to display a flash or flashes of lightning; to flash.
3. v. t. To make light or clear; to light; to illuminate; as, to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets.
4. v. t. 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.
Definition of Lighten
1. Verb. (transitive) To alleviate; to reduce the burden of. ¹
2. Verb. (transitive) To make light or lighter in weight. ¹
3. Verb. (transitive) To make less serious or more cheerful. ¹
4. Verb. (transitive) To make brighter or clearer; to illuminate. ¹
5. Verb. (intransitive) To become light or lighter in weight. ¹
6. Verb. (intransitive) To become less serious or more cheerful. ¹
7. Verb. (intransitive) To become brighter or clearer; to brighten. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Lighten
1. to reduce the weight of [v -ED, -ING, -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Lighten
Literary usage of Lighten
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1893)
"lighten (i), to illuminate, flash. (E.) The force of the final -in is somewhat
dubious, but appears to be due rather to the intransitive than to the ..."
2. The American and English Encyclopedia of Law by John Houston Merrill, Charles Frederic Williams, Thomas Johnson Michie, David Shephard Garland (1890)
""The voluntary throwing overboard of goods, in a case of extreme peril, to lighten
and save the ship." Burrill, Law Diet. "The throwing overboard of goods ..."
3. A Concordance to the English Poems of Thomas Gray by Albert Stanburrough Cook, Concordance Society (1908)
"lighten. Let majesty . . . lighten from thy eye: Agr. 146. Lightly. Some lightly
o'er the current skim, Spring 28. little Footsteps lightly print the Ground ..."
4. Sunset by Southern Pacific Company, Southern Pacific Company. Passenger Dept (1913)
"... Desert Flowers (Helen Field Fischer) 1222 ; By Way of Illustration (WR lighten)
1202; Shopping Early (Drawn by Albertine Randall Wheelan) 1234 Published ..."
Other Resources:
