Dictionary Definition
relax
Verb
1 become less tense, rest, or take one's ease;
"He relaxed in the hot tub"; "Let's all relax after a hard day's
work" [syn: loosen up,
unbend, unwind, decompress, slow down]
[ant: tense]
2 make less tight; "relax the tension on the
rope" [syn: unbend]
3 become loose or looser or less tight; "The
noose loosened"; "the rope relaxed" [syn: loosen, loose] [ant: stiffen]
4 cause to feel relaxed; "A hot bath always
relaxes me" [syn: unstrain, unlax, loosen up,
unwind, make
relaxed] [ant: tense,
tense]
5 become less tense, less formal, or less
restrained, and assume a friendlier manner; "our new colleague
relaxed when he saw that we were a friendly group" [syn: loosen
up]
6 make less severe or strict; "The government
relaxed the curfew after most of the rebels were caught" [syn:
loosen]
7 become less severe or strict; "The rules
relaxed after the new director arrived" [syn: loosen]
8 make less active or fast; "He slackened his
pace as he got tired"; "Don't relax your efforts now" [syn:
slack, slacken, slack up]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -æks
Verb
Translations
to make something loose
- Czech: uvolnit
- German: lockern
- Japanese: くつろがせる
- Russian: расслаблять (rasslabl'át’) , расслабить (rassslábit’) ;
to become loose
- Czech: uvolnit se
- Finnish: rentoutua, rauhoittua
- German: locker werden
- Japanese: くつろぐ
- Russian: расслабляться (rasslabl'át’s'a) , расслабиться (rassslábit's'a) ;
to make something less severe or tense
- German: entspannen, lockern
- Japanese: 落ち着かせる, 和らげる, qualifier phrase 緊張を解く
- Russian: ослаблять (oslabl'át’) , ослабить (oslábit’) ; распускать (raspuskát’) , распустить (raspistít’) ;
to become less severe or tense
- German: entspannen, locker werden
- Japanese: 落ち着く; qualifier phrase 緊張を解く; qualifier colloquial ほっとする
- Russian: распускаться (raspuskát’s'a) , распуститься (raspistít’s'a) ;
to make something (such as codes and
regulations) more lenient
to become more lenient
- Finnish: höllentyä, hölletä
- German: entspannen, locker werden
- Japanese: 緩和する, 緩める
- Russian: смягчаться (sm'aχčát's'a) , смягчиться (sm'aχčít's'a)
to relieve (something) from stress
- German: entspannen
- Japanese: 落ち着かせる, 和らげる, qualifier phrase 緊張を解く
- Russian: расслаблять (rasslabl'át’) , расслабить (rassslábit’) ;
- ttbc Arabic:
- ttbc Chinese: 放松 (fàng sōng)
- ttbc Dutch: zich ontspannen
- ttbc French: se détendre
- ttbc Hungarian: kipihenni magát, kikapcsolódni
- ttbc Italian: rilassare
- ttbc Korean: 늦추다 (neutchuda)
- ttbc Portuguese: relaxar
- ttbc Spanish: soltar, relajar
- ttbc Swedish: slappna av, koppla av
Extensive Definition
Relax may refer to:
- "Relax" (song) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
- "Relax, Take It Easy", a 2006 song by Mika
- Relax (film), a Tamil film
- Relax...It's Just Sex, a 1998 film
- RELAX, short for Regular Language description for XML, a specification for describing XML-based languages
- "Relax", a song by The Who from their album The Who Sell Out
See also
relax in Dutch: Relax
relax in Japanese: リラックス
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abate,
admit, admit exceptions,
allow, allow for, amuse, arrest, backpedal, backwater, bate, be at ease, be easy, be
relaxed, beguile,
beguile the time, bend,
brake, calm down, check, clip the wings, collect, collect oneself,
compose, compose
oneself, concede,
consider, consider the
circumstances, consider the source, convulse, cool it, cool off,
curb, cushion, decelerate, decrease, delay, delight, detain, diffuse, diminish, discount, disjoin, disperse, disregard, divert, draw rein, drown care,
ease, ease off, ease up,
enliven, entertain, exhilarate, feel at home,
feel easy, fluff, forbear, forgive, fracture one, free, gentle, get organized, give, give quarter, give way,
grant, have a ball, have
fun, have mercy upon, have pity, hold back, hold in check, hold up,
impede, keep back,
kill, kill time, knead, knock dead, laugh it up,
lax, laxate, lessen, let down, let go, let up,
let up on, lift temporarily, limber, limber up, live it up,
loose, loosen, loosen up, lose ground,
lose momentum, lose speed, make, make allowance for, mash, massage, mellow, melt, milden, mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mollify, obstruct, pardon, plump, provide for, pulp, quiet down, raise a laugh,
raise a smile, recreate, reduce, reef, refresh, regale, rein in, relax the
condition, release,
relent, relieve, remit, reprieve, rest, retard, scatter, set aside, set back,
shake up, simmer down, slack, slack off, slack up,
slacken, slake, slay, slow, slow down, slow up, smash, sober down, soften, soften up, solace, spare, squash, stand easy, stay, subdue, submit, supple, take account of, take in
sail, take into account, take into consideration, take it easy,
take pity on, temper,
tenderize, thaw, throttle down, tickle, titillate, tone down, tune
down, unbend, unbrace, unglue, unlax, unleash, unstick, unstrain, unstring, untighten, unwind, waive, weaken, wow, yield