ease

1 to free from obstruction or difficulty measures intended to ease the flow of traffic during rush hour Synonyms facilitate, grease, loosen (up), smooth, unclog Related Words accelerate, expedite, hasten, hurry, quicken, rush, speed; advance, forward, further, promote; abet, aid, assist, help, improve; disentangle, straighten (out), untangle; simplify, streamline Phrases pave the way (for) Near Antonyms hinder, impede; retard; aggravate, worsen; perplex, sophisticate Antonyms complicate

2 to make less taut the rock climber eased the rope a little so that his fellow climber had room to maneuver Synonyms slacken, loosen, relax, slackRelated Words detach, free, unbind, undo, unfasten, untieNear Antonyms attach, bind, fasten, tie; constrain, restrainAntonyms strain, stretch, tense, tension, tighten

3 to make more bearable or less severe grandmother's firm belief that there are few ailments that chicken soup won't ease Synonyms allay, alleviate, assuage, help, mitigate, mollify, palliate, relieve, sootheRelated Words abate, lighten, moderate, soften, temper; cure, heal, remedy; amend, correct, emend, fix, mend, rectify, reform, repair; ameliorate, better, enhance, enrich, improve, meliorate, perfect, refineNear Antonyms harm, hurt, impair, injure; heighten, intensify, sharpenAntonyms aggravate, exacerbate

4 to make smaller in amount, volume, or extent the chairman of the Federal Reserve has promised to ease interest rates Synonyms abate, de-escalate, dent, deplete, diminish, downscale, downsize, drop, dwindle, decrease, knock down, lessen, lower, reduceRelated Words compress, condense, constrict, contract; abbreviate, abridge, clip, crop, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, dock, nick, pare, prune, retrench, shorten, slash, trim, truncate, whittle; deflate, shrink; minimize; moderate, modify, modulate, qualifyNear Antonyms blow up, dilate, distend, inflate, swell; elongate, extend, lengthen, prolong, protract; add (to), complement, supplement; enhance, heighten, intensify; redoubleAntonyms aggrandize, amplify, augment, boost, enlarge, escalate, expand, increase, raise

5 to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually new investments in the region have eased since the rise in interest rates Synonyms abate, decline, de-escalate, die (away or down or out), diminish, drain (away), drop (off), dwindle, decrease, ebb, fall, fall away, lessen, let up, lower, moderate, pall, phase down, ratchet (down) also rachet (down), recede, relent, remit, shrink, subside, taper, taper off, waneRelated Words compress, condense, constrict, contract; evaporate, fade (away), fritter (away), give out, melt (away), peter (out), tail (off), vanish; slacken, slow (down); alleviate, relax; flag, sink, weaken; cave (in), collapse, deflateNear Antonyms appear, emerge, show up; blow up, distend, elongate, lengthenAntonyms accumulate, balloon, build, burgeon (also bourgeon), enlarge, escalate, expand, grow, increase, intensify, mount, mushroom, pick up, rise, snowball, soar, swell, wax