Allay vs Relieve - What's the difference?
allay | relieve |
To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.
To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate.
(obsolete) To subside, abate, become peaceful.
* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Mark IV:
* Shakespeare
(archaic) To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate.
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in A Study in Scarlet alleviation; abatement; check
To ease (a person, person's thoughts etc.) from mental distress; to stop (someone) feeling anxious or worried, to alleviate the distress of.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
To ease (someone, a part of the body etc.) or give relief from physical pain or discomfort.
To alleviate (pain, distress, mental discomfort etc.).
To provide comfort or assistance to (someone in need, especially in poverty).
(obsolete) To lift up; to raise again.
(legal) To free (someone) from debt or legal obligations; to give legal relief to.
To bring military help to (a besieged town); to lift the seige on.
To release (someone) from or of a difficulty, unwanted task, responsibility etc.
(military, job) To free (someone) from their post, task etc. by taking their place.
* 1819 , (Lord Byron), , III.76:
* 1927 , (Countee Cullen), From the Dark Tower :
(reflexive) To go to the toilet; to defecate or urinate.
As verbs the difference between allay and relieve
is that allay is to make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm while relieve is to ease (a person, person's thoughts etc) from mental distress; to stop (someone) feeling anxious or worried, to alleviate the distress of.As a noun allay
is alleviation; abatement; check.allay
English
Alternative forms
* (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)- to allay popular excitement
- to allay the tumult of the passions
- to allay the severity of affliction or the bitterness of adversity
- And the wynde alayed , and there folowed a greate calme: and he sayde unto them: why are ye fearfull?
- When the rage allays .
- (Fuller)
Quotations
He had to pretend to be drunk in order to allay the suspicions which might have been aroused by his appearance at the gate.—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in A Study in Scarlet
Synonyms
* alleviate; check; repress; assuage; appease; abate; subdue; destroy; compose; soothe; calm; quietNoun
References
*Anagrams
* ----relieve
English
Verb
(reliev)- This shall not relieve either Party of any obligations.
- The henna should be deeply dyed to make / The skin relieved appear more fairly fair [...].
- The night whose sable breast relieves the stark / White stars is no less lovely being dark