al ‧ le ‧ vi ‧ ate /əˈliːvieɪt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Late Latin ; Origin: past participle of alleviare , from Latin ad- 'to' + levis 'light' ]
to make something less painful or difficult to deal with
alleviate the problem/situation/suffering etc
a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu
measures to alleviate poverty
—alleviation /əˌliːviˈeɪʃ ə n/ noun [uncountable]
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THESAURUS
■ to reduce prices, numbers, or amounts
▪ reduce to make the price, amount, or size of something less or smaller:
The price was reduced by 50%.
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We need to reduce the amount of salt in our diet.
▪ cut to reduce something, especially by a large amount – used about prices, costs, jobs, or the time needed to do something:
Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs.
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The journey time will be cut to under 2 hours.
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Staff numbers have been cut by half to about 150.
▪ lower to reduce the level, limit, or amount of something. Lower sounds rather formal:
The voting age was lowered to 18.
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The government decided to lower interest rates by 0.5%.
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After twenty minutes, lower the temperature to 150 degrees.
▪ bring something down to reduce something such as prices or costs, or reduce the level of something. Bring something down is less formal than lower :
The government wants to bring down the level of inflation.
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The company is trying to bring its costs down.
▪ slash informal to reduce an amount or price by a very large amount – used especially in newspapers and advertisements:
Public spending has been slashed over the past two years.
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Prices slashed for one week only!
▪ cut something back to reduce the amount of something – used especially about people deciding to spend less, do less, or use less of something:
The education budget has been cut back again.
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I need to cut back on my workload.
▪ downsize to reduce the number of people employed in order to reduce costs – used about a company or organization:
The company is planning to downsize its European operations.
▪ scale something down/back to reduce the size or the amount of money that is being spent on something:
The research programme has been scaled down.
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The navy is being scaled down.
▪ relieve/ease to make pain or feelings less unpleasant:
The drug is used to relieve pain.
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A joke can help to ease the tension.
▪ alleviate formal to reduce pain or suffering, or make a problem less serious:
You can buy various medicines to alleviate the symptoms of flu.
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The new road was supposed to alleviate the congestion problem.