Ameliorate
[ə'miːlɪəreɪt] or [ə'milɪə'ret]
Definition
(v. t.) To make better; to improve; to meliorate.
(v. i.) To grow better; to meliorate; as, wine ameliorates by age.
Editor: Ryan
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Improve, amend, mend, emend, better, meliorate, make better.
Checked by Hayes
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Improve, raise, better, advantage, promote, advance, amend, rectify, meliorate
ANT:Debase, depress, deteriorate, injure, impair, vitiate, spoil, mar
Checked by Francis
Definition
v.t. to make better: to improve.—v.i. to grow better.—n. Ameliorā′tion the condition of being made better: improvement or the means of such.—adj. Amel′iorative.
Typed by Leigh
Examples
- I sought to improve her manners and ameliorate her general tone; she (supported in this likewise by her relations) resented my endeavours. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Spring drew on: she was indeed already come; the frosts of winter had ceased; its snows were melted, its cutting winds ameliorated. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Pain cannot be all avoided, but it is ameliorated; and the new results in workmanship in the saving and in the making of teeth are vast improvements over the former methods. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Pure siliceous sands are very valuable for the manufacture of glass, for making mortar, filters, ameliorating dense clay soils, for making molds in founding and for many other purposes. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
Editor: Tamara