Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Relax

Re·lax′ (r?-l?ks′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Relaxed (-l?kst′); p. pr. & vb. n. Relaxing.] [L. relaxare; pref. re- re- + laxare to loose, to slacken, from laxus loose. See Lax, and cf. Relay, n., Release.] 1. To make lax or loose; to make less close, firm, rigid, tense, or the like; to slacken; to loosen; to open; as, to relax a rope or cord; to relax the muscles or sinews.

Horror . . . all his joints relaxed. Milton.

Nor served it to relax their serried files. Milton.

2. To make less severe or rigorous; to abate the stringency of; to remit in respect to strenuousness, earnestness, or effort; as, to relax discipline; to relax one's attention or endeavors.

The statute of mortmain was at several times relaxed by the legislature. Swift.

3. Hence, to relieve from attention or effort; to ease; to recreate; to divert; as, amusement relaxes the mind.

4. To relieve from constipation; to loosen; to open; as, an aperient relaxes the bowels.

Syn. — To slacken; loosen; loose; remit; abate; mitigate; ease; unbend; divert.

Re·lax′, v. i. 1. To become lax, weak, or loose; as, to let one's grasp relax.

His knees relax with toil. Pope.

2. To abate in severity; to become less rigorous.

In others she relaxed again, And governed with a looser rein. Prior.

3. To remit attention or effort; to become less diligent; to unbend; as, to relax in study.

Re·lax′, n. Relaxation. [Obs.] Feltham.

Re··lax′, a. Relaxed; lax; hence, remiss; careless.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.