Verb

(es)

To calm down.

To make something loose.

to relax''' a rope or cord; to '''relax the muscles or sinews

* Milton

Horror all his joints relaxed .

To become loose.

To make something less severe or tense.

to relax''' discipline; to '''relax one's attention or endeavours

To become less severe or tense.

To make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient.

* Jonathan Swift

The stature of mortmain was at several times relaxed by the legislature.

{{quote-book

, year=1953 , author=Edward Corwin , title=The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation , chapter=Section 2. Jurisdiction citation , page=589 , passage=The Court rejected the contention that the doctrine of sovereign immunity should be relaxed as inapplicable to suits for specific relief as distinguished from damage suits, saying: "The Government, as representative of the community as a whole, cannot be stopped in its tracks by any plaintiff who presents a disputed question of property or contract right."}}

(of codes and regulations) To become more lenient.

To relieve (something) from stress.

Amusement relaxes the mind.

(dated) To relieve from constipation; to loosen; to open.

An aperient relaxes the bowels.

Verb

To free from flexure; to make, or allow to become, straight; to loosen.

to unbend a bow

To remit from a strain or from exertion; to set at ease for a time; to relax.

to unbend the mind from study or care

* Shakespeare

You do unbend your noble strength.

To unfasten, as sails, from the spars or stays to which they are attached for use.

To cast loose or untie, as a rope.

To cease to be bent; to become straight or relaxed.

To relax in exertion, attention, severity, or the like; hence, to indulge in mirth or amusement.

*1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter VI

*:He spent the afternoon shaping a swagger-stick from the branch of jarrah and talking with Miss La Rue, who had sufficiently unbent toward him to notice his existence.