Showing results for heal. Search instead for to heal.

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

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

“I promise I’m going to work as hard as I can to get through this, heal properly, and come back stronger,” she wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

She added: "It means more to me than I could ever say. I promise I'm going to work as hard as I can to get through this, heal properly, and come back stronger."

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Despite generous overtures to Stevens and assurances to the Jewish community El-Sayed made in remarks on Wednesday morning after the race was called, there are intraparty divisions left to heal.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

They dressed the wound with sheep fat and traditional herbs, which were supposed to kill infection and make the wound heal.

From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola

"I lost all my family because of that. And as years went on I buried it deep inside, but the wound never heals."

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026

Tyndale introduced the English people to a God who eats with sinners, heals the sick and comforts the grief-stricken: a loving God on a mission to rescue mankind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026

But time heals all boring Main Events and fans were not ready to see Cena go out with a whimper in his final match.

From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2025

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025

I did not try to treat its wound with herbs because salt water heals and the herbs would have washed off anyway.

From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell

This deep ecumenical fracture won't be healed for some time after the war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

This work revealed the skull had bite marks, and previously broken ribs that had healed in its lifetime.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

As their $20 bills started flying at him, so did their stories, about how raw milk had healed their health issues, including asthma.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

Walking made it feel like my bones had healed into blades jabbing into me, but any kind of pain was worth the chance to get out of that darn bed.

From "Worth" by A. LaFaye

For Asare, true reparatory justice must prioritise human connection and healing over financial transactions.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

A video from 2015 shows how, in Ojibwe tradition, dancers provide healing through the rhythmic music created, with every step they take, by the numerous cone-shaped bells that adorn their jingle-dresses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Hilton’s family said in the statement that healing for his children and niece is their highest priority.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

“Every ecosystem has their own set of plants that can greatly help healing in so many ways. It’s medicine for the people, grassroots herbalism that you see throughout the world.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

This approach must go beyond the rhetoric of “community policing” to a method of engagement between and among people in the community that promotes trust, healing, restorative justice, and reparations.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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