/ rɪˈliːf; NAmE / noun
REMOVAL OF ANXIETY / PAIN
1.
[ U , sing. ] the feeling of happiness that you have when sth unpleasant stops or does not happen :
a sense of relief
We all breathed a sigh of relief when he left.
She sighed with relief.
Much to my relief the car was not damaged.
News of their safety came as a great relief.
It was a relief to be able to talk to someone about it.
What a relief !
2.
[ U ] relief (from / of sth) the act of removing or reducing pain, anxiety, etc. :
modern methods of pain relief
the relief of suffering
HELP
3.
[ U ] food, money, medicine, etc. that is given to help people in places where there has been a war or natural disaster
SYN aid :
famine relief
a relief agency / organization / worker
4.
[ U ] ( especially NAmE ) financial help given by the government to people who need it
ON TAX
5.
[ U ] = tax relief :
relief on mortgage interest payments
STH DIFFERENT
6.
[ U , sing. ] relief (from sth) something that is interesting or enjoyable that replaces sth boring, difficult or unpleasant for a short period of time :
a few moments of light relief in an otherwise dull performance
There was little comic relief in his speech.
The calm of the countryside came as a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of city life.
WORKERS
7.
[ C +sing./pl. v . ] (often used as an adjective) a person or group of people that replaces another when they have finished working for the day or when they are sick :
The next crew relief comes on duty at 9 o'clock.
relief drivers
FROM ENEMY
8.
[ sing. ] relief of ... the act of freeing a town, etc. from an enemy army that has surrounded it
IN ART
9.
[ U , C ] a way of decorating wood, stone, etc. by cutting designs into the surface of it so that some parts stick out more than others; a design that is made in this way :
The column was decorated in high relief (= with designs that stick out a lot) with scenes from Greek mythology.
The bronze doors are covered with sculpted reliefs.
—see also bas-relief
MAKING STH NOTICEABLE
10.
[ U ] the effect of colours, light, etc. that makes an object more noticeable than others around it :
The snow-capped mountain stood out in sharp relief against the blue sky.
11.
[ U ] the quality of a particular situation, problem, etc. that makes it more noticeable than before :
Their differences have been thrown into sharp relief by the present crisis.
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : from Old French , from relever raise up, relieve, from Latin relevare raise again, alleviate.