lighten

lighten (one's) load

To help make something less difficult, upsetting, or overwhelming for one. Thankfully my wife's family will be there when we move to help lighten our load a bit. I'm so sorry for your loss, Jen. If there's anything we can do to lighten your load, please don't hesitate to ask.
See also: lighten, load

lighten (one's) wallet

1. To spend a large amount of money. (When speaking of one's own actions.) My sister loves to shop. She's always out looking for new ways to lighten her wallet.
2. To take money from someone; to cause someone to spend a significant amount of money. (When speaking of someone or something acting on another person.) Sure, it's a nice hotel, but it will lighten your wallet faster than you can say "overpriced." I'm always wary of souvenir merchants in foreign cities, whose sole objective is to lighten travelers' wallets.
See also: lighten, wallet

lighten the load

To help make something less difficult, upsetting, or overwhelming for one. Thankfully my wife's family will be there when we move to help lighten the load a bit. I'm so sorry for your loss, Jen. If there's anything we can do to lighten the load, please don't hesitate to ask.
See also: lighten, load

lighten up

1. To brighten something in color. I think some new highlights will lighten up your hair and really refresh your look.
2. To act less seriously or sternly. In this usage, "lighten up" is a set phrase. A: "I think he definitely needs to be grounded." B: "Oh, lighten up—it's not like you never made stupid mistakes as a kid."
3. To cause someone or something to become less serious or stern. It's a funeral—nothing you do will lighten up the mood.
See also: lighten, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

lighten something up

to make something lighter or brighter. Some white paint will lighten this room up a lot. The sunlight came in and lightened up the kitchen.
See also: lighten, up

lighten up

to become lighter or brighter. (See also lighten up (on someone or something).) We applied a new coat of white paint to the walls, and the room lightened up considerably. The sky is beginning to lighten up a little.
See also: lighten, up

lighten up (on someone or something)

to be less rough and demanding or rude with someone or something. Please lighten up on her. You are being very cruel. You are too harsh. Lighten up.
See also: lighten, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

lighten up

Become or cause to become less serious or gloomy, and more cheerful. For example, Lighten up, Sam-it'll turn out all right. This slangy expression transfers reducing a physical weight to a change of mood or attitude.
See also: lighten, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

lighten up

v.
1. To make something appear lighter in shade: The artist lightened up the paint by mixing in some white. Those mirrors really lighten the room up.
2. To become lighter in shade: These pants are too dark now, but they will lighten up after they've been washed a lot.
3. To make something more pleasant and less serious or depressing: The jokes lightened up the tone of the meeting. I didn't mean to be disrespectful—I was just trying to lighten things up.
4. To take matters less seriously: Everything will work out fine, so stop worrying and lighten up.
See also: lighten, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

lighten up

Don’t be so serious, relax. Originally, this slangy imperative, dating from the 1940s, meant to calm down, but in succeeding decades it took on its present meaning. Tracy Kidder had it in Among Schoolchildren (1989): “Me and my precious schedules . . . I’ve got to lighten up. Chill out.”
See also: lighten, up
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • lighten (one's) load
  • lighten the load
  • give (one) a/the feel of (something)
  • help a lame dog over a stile
  • helping
  • lame
  • plough (one's) own furrow
  • ploughed
  • ploughs
  • furrow
References in periodicals archive
This remedy helps lighten the marks and spots on your facial skin.
Remedies to lighten your skin naturally that you can use right now!
In Ghana, for example, there are countless billboard advertisements on how to get "perfect white" skin (Coopernov 2016), while in Jamaica, dancehall songs and lyrics often praise those who lighten their skin (Charles 2011a).
"Tsada Getzu, Tsada Libu (White Face, White Heart)": An Exploration of Skin Lightening in Eritrea
Next, Figures 3 and 4 compare the model with the results obtained in previous research works using other procedures to lighten gypsum compounds (Table 1).
Analysis of the Relationship between Density and Mechanical Strength of Lightened Gypsums: Proposal for a Coefficient of Lightening
Lightening in the past architecture was not limited to carrier elements; instead, non-carrier elements were lightened too including non-carrier walls which generally played a partitioning and separating role; for example, cavity wall was considered as a strategy to build fences and shelters.
Studying the performance of light weight construction technologies in Iranian architecture
Regardless of whether you pick up "Unlocking the Mystery of Skin Color" because you truly want to lighten your complexion or out of sheer curiosity, I am certain that you will learn a lot of both useful tips and fascinating trivia about an attribute that we all posses and which oftentimes defines us--even when it should not.
Unlocking the Mystery of Skin Color
Enjoy 2008 and keep a light heart to accompany your lightened footprint.
Trying to lighten up
US-based aircraft maker Boeing can lighten the weight of its 787 aircraft by 2.5 tonnes, according to Mike Bair, the general manager of the 787 programme.
Boeing confident it can lighten 787 - claim
"In the beginning I was worried that if I did use them they could lighten my skin all over and in the end I stopped using them because they were not just bleaching the darker bits of my skin.
POST STYLE: A CAUTIONARY TALE; PATRICE JOHN EXAMINES SOME OF THE UN-ADVERTISED SIDE EFFECTS OF SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS
Lighten Up Yoga & Healing Arts Center, 60 Biltmore Ave, Asheville.
New Life events
Lighten leg hair with Nair Lightening Effects Hair Lightener ($5, drugstores).
Smooth moves: stubbly legs? Never-smooth underarms? Bikini line speed bumps? Not this summer!
Openings to Lighten the Way is that rarest of finds--a creation so startlingly unusual that it keeps taking you by surprise, but at the same time so universal that page by page, Opening by Opening, it feels like coming home.
Openings to Lighten the Way
"It was really dense and dull and I was trying to help her lighten it up.
The healing power of laughter: liberal doses of humor are a proven prescription for wellness. (Attitude Enhancement)
Perhaps one jovial lifestyle column could lighten the load and make a difference.
Fare thee well. (frames of mind)
With Earth exerting less and less of a tug, you feel noticeably lighten The sky gradually blackens and the heavens are aglow with more stars than you've ever seen before.
Ribbon to the stars: pushing the space elevator closer to reality
"If more than 50 percent of your hair is gray, or if you want to lighten your hair, you have to use a permanent color with peroxide," says Masters.
Hair to dye for: natural alternatives to toxic coloring agents. (Consumer News)