relaxation
Americannoun
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abatement or relief from bodily or mental work, effort, application, etc.
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an activity or recreation that provides such relief; diversion; entertainment.
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a loosening or slackening.
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diminution or remission of strictness or severity.
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Mathematics. a numerical procedure for solving systems of equations by successive approximations of the variables.
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Physics.
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the return of a system undergoing dissipation to an initial state of equilibrium after being displaced from it.
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the approach to steady-state operation of a system that has undergone dissipation and a change in state or has been subjected to an abrupt periodic disturbance.
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noun
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rest or refreshment, as after work or effort; recreation
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a form of rest or recreation
his relaxation is cricket
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a partial lessening of a punishment, duty, etc
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the act of relaxing or state of being relaxed
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physics the return of a system to equilibrium after a displacement from this state
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maths a method by which errors resulting from an approximation are reduced by using new approximations
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of relaxation
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin relaxātiōn- (stem of relaxātiō ), equivalent to relaxāt ( us ) (past participle of relaxāre to relax; see -ate 1) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
The noun relaxation describes the act of making something less strict. If your boss announces a relaxation of the company dress code, that means lots of happy people will be wearing jeans to work. Relaxation carries many shades of meaning. It can describe being free from responsibility, like a relaxation of your usual obligations that comes while you're on vacation. The feeling of rest and peacefulness that can come from this freedom is also called relaxation. It comes from Latin: re- means "again," laxare means "loosen," and the suffix -ation means "the state of." So relaxation is the state of loosening something again.
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:
In the same month Harborne donated a record £9m to Reform, relaxation of US stablecoin regulation drove up the value of his stake in Tether by several billion dollars.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
What 250 years means: More trees… more relaxation… it means peace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The Secure acts’ only relaxation on the litigation front offered protection if an annuity provider went out of business.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
If relaxation occurs more rapidly in certain directions than others, that behavior could reveal the complex spin arrangements predicted for altermagnets.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026
But Phineas had moved in continuous flowing balance, so that he had seemed to drift along with no effort at all, relaxation on the move.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
"It has a mechanical activity -- the contractions and relaxations that pump blood through our body -- coupled to an electrical signal that controls that activity."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2024
Experts have suggested a smattering of possible reasons for the increased rates, such as relaxations in social distancing and masking, increased exposure as a result of vacation travel and waning immunity from past vaccinations.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 14, 2023
"To improve the property market you can't just loosen one measure, you need a basket of relaxations," Cheung said, adding that people were usually reluctant to borrow more at times of rising interest rates.
From Reuters ● Jul. 10, 2023
Japan has continued implementing strict immigration laws despite some relaxations, but some experts are now saying that the rules should be loosened further to help tackle its ageing society.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2023
But besides these relaxations of peace, there was also the reality of war; for the war still lingered on, though feebly.
From Of Six Mediæval Women To Which Is Added A Note on Mediæval Gardens by Kemp-Welch, Alice
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
