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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Relax \Re*lax"\ (r?-l?ks"), verb (used with an object) [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}, noun, {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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
relaxed
adjective
1: without strain or anxiety; "gave the impression of being quite relaxed"; "a relaxed and informal discussion" [syn: {at ease}] [ant: {tense}]
2: made less tense or rigid; "his relaxed muscles"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
211 Moby Thesaurus words for "relaxed": Bohemian, affable, ambling, at ease, at home, at rest, bagging, baggy, blank, blankminded, blase, breezy, calm, carefree, careless, casual, cautious, circumspect, claudicant, common, composed, cool, coolheaded, cordial, crawling, creeping, creeping like snail, culpably negligent, dangling, degage, deliberate, derelict, devil-may-care, drooping, easy, easygoing, empty, empty-headed, faltering, familiar, fatuous, flabby, flaccid, flagging, flapping, flexuous, flimsy, floppy, folksy, foot-dragging, free and easy, gentle, gracious, gradual, halting, hanging, happy-go-lucky, hasteless, haymish, hobbled, hobbling, homely, homey, idle, impotent, imprecise, inactive, inadvertent, inane, inattentive, incogitant, indifferent, indolent, inexcitable, informal, insouciant, irregular, laissez-faire, languid, languorous, lax, lazy, leisurely, lenient, limp, limping, loose, low-pressure, lumbering, mellow, mild, moderate, natural, neglectful, neglecting, negligent, nerveless, nirvanic, nonchalant, noninterfering, nonrestrictive, oblivious, off-guard, offhand, offhanded, overindulgent, overly permissive, overpermissive, pacific, passive, peaceful, permissive, plain, poking, poky, procrastinating, quietistic, reluctant, remiss, rickety, rock-steady, rubbery, sauntering, scamping, serene, shaky, shuffling, simple, sinuous, skimping, slack, slighting, slipshod, sloppy, slothful, slow, slow as death, slow as molasses, slow as slow, slow-crawling, slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced, slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, sluggish, slurring, snail-paced, snaillike, sociable, soft, staggering, steady, steady-handed, steady-nerved, steel-nerved, streaming, strolling, strong-nerved, tentative, thoughtfree, thoughtless, toddling, tortoiselike, tottering, tranquil, trudging, turtlelike, unaffected, unassuming, unblenching, unblinking, unceremonious, uncircumspect, unconstrained, unconventional, unfaltering, unflinching, unfussy, unguarded, unhasty, unhurried, unideaed, unintellectual, unnervous, unoccupied, unofficial, unquivering, unreasoning, unreserved, unrestrained, unrigorous, unshaken, unshaky, unshrinking, unstrained, unstudied, unthinking, untremulous, unwary, unwatchful, unwavering, vacant, vacuous, waddling, weak, without a tremor
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