lighten
verb
ˈlaɪtn
verb
1
to
reduce
the
amount
of
work,
worry,
debt
etc
that
someone
has
减轻，减少〔工作量、担忧、债务等〕;
T
lighten
the
load/burden/workload
We
should
hire
another
secretary
to
lighten
Barbara’s
workload.
我们应该再请一位秘书，减轻芭芭拉的工作量。
2
to
become
brighter
or
less
dark,
or
to
make
something
brighter
etc
（使）变亮，（使）明亮;
I,T
As
the
sky
lightened
,
we
were
able
to
see
where
we
were.
天色渐亮，我们能看清楚身处何地了。
3
if
you
lighten
something
such
as
a
mood
or
ATMOSPHERE
,
or
if
it
lightens,
it
becomes
less
sad
or
serious
（使）变得轻松
I,T
lighten
the
atmosphere/mood/conversation
Nora
didn’t
respond
to
my
attempts
to
lighten
the
conversation.
我努力让谈话变得轻松一点，可诺拉没有反应。
4
if
someone’s
face
or
expression
lightens,
they
begin
to
look
more
cheerful
〔脸或表情〕变得高兴，露出喜色
I
His
whole
face
would
lighten
when
anyone
mentioned
Nancy.
一有人提起南希，他就满脸喜悦。
5
to
reduce
the
weight
of
something
or
become
less
heavy
（使）变轻
I,T
6
lighten up
used
to
tell
someone
not
to
be
so
serious
about
something
[口] 别那么严肃，放松点
spoken
You
need
to
lighten
up
a
bit.
你需要放松一点。