relief

relief
/rI'li:f/ noun
1 COMFORT (singular, uncountable) a feeling of comfort when something frightening, worrying, or painful has ended or has not happened: I felt a huge surge of relief and happiness. | be a relief: In a way it was a relief to know exactly what we were up against. | to your relief (=making you feel relief): To our great relief the children all arrived home safely. | what a relief!: “The boss didn't realize you were late.” “What a relief!” | a sigh of relief: The men went away and she heaved a sigh of relief.
2 REDUCTION OF PAIN (U) the reduction of pain or unhappy feelings: pain relief: the various methods of pain relief available to women in labor
(+ of): the relief of suffering (+ from): Tranquillizers provide only temporary relief from depression.
3 HELP (U) money, food, clothes etc given to people who are poor or hungry: a relief fund for refugees
4 MONEY (U) especially AmE money given by the government to help people who are poor, old, unemployed etc; benefit 1 (2) BrE
5 REPLACE SB (C) a person or group of people that replaces another one and does their duty after they have finished: the relief for the military guard | a relief driver
6 the relief of the act of freeing a town when it has been surrounded by an enemy: the relief of Mafeking
7 DECORATION (C) a shape or decoration that is raised above the surface it is on
8 STICKING OUT in relief a shape or decoration that is in relief sticks out above the rest of the surface it is on: in high/low relief (=sticking out a lot or a little)
9 stand out in bold/stark/sharp relief to be very different from everything around and therefore very easy to notice: The tree stood out in stark relief against the snow.
10 light/comic relief a funny moment during a serious film, book, or situation: There wasn't much in the way of light relief on the radio.
11 MAP in relief if you show a part of the Earth's surface in relief, you show the differences in height between different parts of it
—see also: tax relief

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую
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  • relief — [ rəljɛf ] n. m. • 1050; de relever « enlever, relever », d apr. l a. forme tonique je relief I ♦ Vx Ce qu on enlève d une table servie. Mod., au plur. ⇒ reste. Les reliefs de la table. « des reliefs d ortolans » (La Fontaine). ♢ Fig. Les reliefs …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • relief — re‧lief [rɪˈliːf] noun 1. [uncountable] when a bad situation is reduced or stops for a time: • Any sign of relief from price pressures will be welcome news for the economy. 2. money, food, clothes etc given to people who are poor or hungry: • a… …   Financial and business terms

  • relief — re·lief n: redress, assistance, or protection given by law esp. from a court should state what relief the plaintiff seeks: as a: release from obligation or duty relief from judgment b: an order from a court granting a particular remedy (as return …   Law dictionary

  • relief — RELIÉF, reliefuri, s.n. 1. Configuraţie a suprafeţei terestre constituită din totalitatea neregularităţilor de forme pozitive sau negative considerate faţă de un plan de referinţă general sau local. 2. Ridicătură, proeminenţă pe o suprafaţă. ♢… …   Dicționar Român

  • relief — Relief. s. m. Bosse eminente en ouvrage de Poterie, de fonte ou de Sculpture. Relief entier ou haut relief, qui est de l épaisseur de toute la figure, demi relief, qui est moins que la moitié des images de relief entier. Ouvrage à demi relief, à… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • relief — Relief, m. acut. Descend du verbe Relever, composé de Re, qui signifie Derechef, et lever, car il se dit d une chose chute, de sorte que Relever est remettre en son estant une chose qui en est deschute. Et se prend Relief ores pour le benefice du …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Relief — Re*lief (r? l?f ), n. [OE. relef, F. relief, properly, a lifting up, a standing out. See {Relieve}, and cf. {Basrelief}, {Rilievi}.] 1. The act of relieving, or the state of being relieved; the removal, or partial removal, of any evil, or of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • relief — ► NOUN 1) a feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress. 2) a cause of relief. 3) the action of relieving. 4) (usu. light relief) a temporary break in a generally tense or boring situation. 5) financial or… …   English terms dictionary

  • Relief — Sn Abbildung mit erhabener bzw. vertiefter Oberfläche per. Wortschatz fach. (18. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus frz. relief m., eigentlich Hervorheben , zu frz. relever hochheben, aufheben , dieses aus l. relevāre, zu l. levāre heben, wegheben,… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • relief — [ri lēf′] n. [ME releef < OFr relief < relever: see RELIEVE] 1. a) an easing, as of pain, discomfort, or anxiety b) a lightening of a burden, as of taxation, oppression, etc. 2. anything that lessens tension or strain, or offers a pleasing… …   English World dictionary

  • Relief — (franz., spr. rölheff, ital. riliēvo), erhabene Arbeit, diejenige Gattung der Bildnerei, welche die Figuren aus einer Ebene oder vertieften Fläche, dem Grunde, erhaben heraustreten läßt. Das R. bildet eine Mittelgattung zwischen der eigentlichen… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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