lighten

7 definitions • 9 examples

to become less dark:

The sky had lightened and there were breaks in the clouds.

to make a difficult situation or responsibility easier:

Getting a new assistant will lighten (= reduce) the workload considerably.

to make something lighter:

The sun always lightens my hair.

to make someone happier and less worried, or to become happier or less worried:

lighten the mood I did my best to lighten the mood, but everyone was really worried.

mood lightens His mood lightened after the phone call.

He tried to lighten the atmosphere by telling a joke.

to make someone or become happier and less anxious:

Being with friends lightened her mood.

to reduce the weight of something:

He lost 30 pounds to lighten the burden on his knee.

To lighten is also to make an amount of work or a responsibility less heavy:

To lighten the load, he decided to divide the job between two people.