cause to feel relaxed; "A hot bath always relaxes me"
become less tense, rest, or take one's ease; "He relaxed in the hot tub"; "Let's all relax after a hard day's work"
make less tight; "relax the tension on the rope"
become less severe or strict; "The rules relaxed after the new director arrived"
make less severe or strict; "The government relaxed the curfew after most of the rebels were caught"
become less tense, less formal, or less restrained, and assume a friendlier manner; "our new colleague relaxed when he saw that we were a friendly group"
conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger"; "strangle a yawn"
envelop completely; "smother the meat in gravy"
deprive of the oxygen necessary for combustion; "smother fires"
deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing; "Othello smothered Desdemona with a pillow"; "The child suffocated herself with a plastic bag that the parents had left on the floor"
form an impenetrable cover over; "the butter cream smothered the cake"