convalesce

con·va·lesce

verb \ˌkän-və-ˈles\

con·va·lescedcon·va·lesc·ing

Definition of CONVALESCE

intransitive verb

: to recover health and strength gradually after sickness or weakness

— con·va·les·cence \-ˈle-s^ən(t)s\ noun

— con·va·les·cent \-s^ənt\ adjective or noun

Examples of CONVALESCE

1. He is convalescing from his leg injuries.
2. <the long months that the soldier spent in the hospital slowly convalescing>

Origin of CONVALESCE

Latin convalescere, from com- + valescere to grow strong, from valēre to be strong, be well — more at wield

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to CONVALESCE

Synonyms: come back, gain, heal, mend, pull round [chiefly British], rally, recoup, recover, recuperate, snap back

Related Words: come around, come round, come to, improve, pick up, revive; cheer (up), perk (up); pull through, survive; recruit

Near Antonyms: ail, collapse, come down, sicken; decline, degenerate, deteriorate, fade, fail, languish, sink, waste (away), weaken, wilt, wither, worsen; regress, relapse

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Other Medicine Terms

analgesia, angina, diabetes, hepatitis, homeopathy, logorrhea, palliate, pandemic

Rhymes with CONVALESCE

ABS, acquiesce, baroness, bitter cress, CBS, coalesce, crown princess, DES, decompress, deliquesce, derepress, dispossess, due process, effervesce, effloresce, evanesce, full-court press, gentilesse, granny dress, in-process, inverness, Inverness, less and less, letterpress, luminesce, Lyonnesse, minidress, more or less, nonetheless, obsolesce, otherguess, overdress, pennycress, phosphoresce, politesse, prepossess, preprocess, recrudesce, repossess, reprocess, retrogress, second-guess, SOS, sweaterdress, underdress, watercress, window-dress, word process