English
relax
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɹɪˈlæks/
Verb

relax (relaxes, present participle relaxing; past and past participle relaxed)

  1. (transitive) To calm down.
  2. (transitive) To make something loose.
    to relax a rope or cord
    to relax the muscles or sinews
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book 8”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
      Horror […] all his joynts relax'd.
  3. (intransitive) To become loose.
    • 2016, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170930001420/https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/lets-learn-english-lesson-5-where-are-you/3168971.html VOA Learning English] (public domain)
      I relax in the living room.
  4. (transitive) To make something less severe or tense.
    to relax discipline
    to relax one's attention or endeavours
  5. (intransitive) To become less severe or tense.
  6. (transitive) To make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient.
    • 1713, Jonathan Swift, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction
      The statute of mortmain […] was at several times relaxed by the legislature.
  7. (intransitive, of codes and regulations) To become more lenient.
  8. (transitive) To relieve (something) from stress.
    Amusement relaxes the mind.
  9. (transitive, dated) To relieve from constipation; to loosen; to open.
    An aperient relaxes the bowels.
Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Russian: смягча́ться
  • Spanish: relajar
Translations

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