Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To become more lenient, compassionate, or forgiving. See Synonyms at yield.
- v. Obsolete To cause to slacken or abate.
- v. Obsolete To cause to soften in attitude or temper.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To slacken; stay.
- To soften in substance; lose compactness; become less rigid or hard.
- To deliquesce; dissolve; melt; fade away.
- To become less severe or intense; relax.
- To become less harsh, cruel, or obdurate; soften in temper; become more mild and tender; give way; yield; comply; feel compassion.
- To slacken; remit; stay; a bate.
- To soften; mollify; dissolve.
- n. Remission; stay.
- n. Relenting.
Wiktionary
- n. Stay; stop; delay.
- v. To become less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion.
- v. To slacken; to abate.
- v. To lessen, make less severe or fast.
- v. To become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce.
- v. To become less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, cruel, or the like; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion.
- v. To slacken; to abate.
- v. To soften; to dissolve.
- v. To mollify ; to cause to be less harsh or severe.
- n. Stay; stop; delay.
WordNet 3.0
- v. give in, as to influence or pressure
Etymologies
- Middle English relenten, to melt, from Anglo-Norman relenter, from relent, damp : Latin re-, re- + Latin lentus, sticky, slow.
Examples
“I couldn't ask for a more peaceful relent from the town.”
“The only thing you are correct on, and I relent is that there is a state homeland security that is louisiana.”
“But he would not relent and would not go away, and in the end they just shut him down.”
“Earlier, President Barack Obama threatened to veto the Pentagon bill that included the military-detention provision, only to relent on Wednesday, despite continued objections from Mr. Mueller and Justice officials over parts of the bill.”
The Wall Street Journal: Holder Skirts Fight Over Terror Bill
“If it were to fetch an enterprise value of £ 3 billion — the price at which analysts believe Smiths would relent — that would equate to 13 times forecasted fiscal 2011 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.”
“She did not relent in her work on behalf of the oppressed even though she was aware she was under Nazi surveillance.”
The Huffington Post: Eric Simpson: Those Who Hunger And Thirst For Righteousness Will Be Filled
“Only when that former clerk, Stephen Barnett, bluntly told Brennan in an early 1974 letter that his behavior was "both unconstitutional and simply wrong" did the justice relent and hire his first female clerk.”
The Washington Post: Justice William Brennan, a liberal lion who wouldn't hire women
“The stepped-up pace of NATO military action in recent days "sends a very clear message that the pressure's not going to relent, that it's actually going to increase," said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser.”
USA Today: Libya could be bone of contention for Obama, allies
“He later told the British parliament that the U.S., Britain and their allies "stopped a massacre in Libya" and will not relent until what he called "the shadow of tyranny" is lifted.”
“And because Rick Castle is Cool Dad, for a moment it crossed my mind that he might relent.”
Alynda Wheat's Beat Cop: 'The Mentalist' and 'Castle,' tricks and treats | EW.com
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘relent’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Kangaroo Words
Words containing letters in sequence, together or apart, that form a definition or instance of the subsuming word. E.g., conTAmINaTe = the kangaroo word. TAINT = the joey. Theme from a NYT X-word ...
encourage, chariot, precipitation, neurotic, feaster, unsightly, charisma, inheritor, masculine, honorable, contaminate, regulate and 103 more...
oroboros reLEnT Apr 29, 2008