Synonyms

heal

American

[heel] / hil /

verb (used with object)

to make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment.

Antonyms:

irritate
to bring to an end or conclusion, as conflicts between people or groups, usually with the strong implication of restoring former amity; settle; reconcile.

They tried to heal the rift between them but were unsuccessful.

Synonyms:

soothe, compose

Antonyms:

irritate
to free from evil; cleanse; purify.

to heal the soul.

Synonyms:

disinfect, purge

Antonyms:

infect, soil

verb (used without object)

to effect a cure.
(of a wound, broken bone, etc.) to become whole or sound; mend; get well (often followed by up orover ).

noun

(in a video game) a category of spell that restores the health of a player character.

I thought the party was gonna wipe, but a clutch heal saved our Monk and he finished off the boss alone.

heal British

/ hiːl /

verb

to restore or be restored to health
(intr; often foll by over or up) (of a wound, burn, etc) to repair by natural processes, as by scar formation
(tr)
1. to treat (a wound, etc) by assisting in its natural repair
2. to cure (a disease or disorder)
to restore or be restored to friendly relations, harmony, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See cure.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of heal

First recorded before 900; Middle English helen, Old English hǣlan (cognate with Dutch helen, German heilen, Old Norse heila, Gothic hailjan ), derivative of hāl hale ¹, whole

Explanation

To heal is to recover or become healthy again. You'll need to wait until your blisters heal before you put your hiking boots back on and climb Mt. Everest. They say time can heal, or cure, a broken heart, while you can be sure that rest, an ice pack, and propping your foot up will heal your twisted ankle. The Proto-Germanic word khailaz, which means "to make whole" is the root of both heal and the closely related word health. Don't confuse heal with heel, which is the back part of your foot or the command that makes a dog stop.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

heal heals healed healing

But Ghana is leading the way in another aspect of trying to heal the damage done by the slave trade.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

They implanted the keratin membranes into rats with skull defects that were large enough that they would not normally heal on their own.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

And here I am, in the most secure relationship of my life, with the person whose love and support helped me heal, still struggling.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

In the family’s statement on Thursday, they said that their highest priority right now was helping Hilton’s three children and niece “begin to heal from what they experienced.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

As I swayed, I imagined that music could actually heal.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

If I could boil my formula for the future of dementia care into two words, it would be this: Hope heals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

From there, activists could demand almost whatever they want: action on climate change, an end to mass surveillance and ICE raids, or an equitable health system that heals instead of mangles.

From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2025

"I don't want to put any ceilings on Jac, we've got a good medical team here and everybody heals at a different rate," Jones said.

From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025

However, time heals things, and grace is always beautiful in life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025

This answer doesn’t match with the other facts he knows about Dr. Martin: that she’s a birder, that she heals injured animals, that she returns birds to the sky, to their families.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

But some of those divides are more easily healed than others.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

By then, he said, his injuries had healed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

I want him to be happy and healed, but it felt like ...

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

The NHS recommends, external getting out of the sun as soon as possible, and keeping burned skin covered to protect it from the sun until it has fully healed.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Her tail had healed nicely, her nose felt fine, and she gave milk pretty good.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

While healing from their losses, they hustled, working as caregivers, nannies, Uber drivers and house cleaners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Yet, within Ghana itself, the conversation around African complicity is far more nuanced, and for some traditional leaders, acknowledging the past is a vital prerequisite part of healing.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

The healing power of music is here, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

The keratin membranes also remained stable during the healing process and integrated smoothly with the surrounding tissue.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

But our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023