Definition of "relieve"

Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

In 1574, the duke of Alva laid siege to Leiden to gain control of Holland's most beautiful and prosperous city. To relieve the siege, William of Orange and his followers opened the city's protective dikes to flush out—literally—the surrounding Spanish forces.

1994, John H. Makin, Norman J. Ornstein, Debt and Taxes: How America Got into Its Budget Mess and What We Can Do about It, New York, NY: Times Books, page 52

They had thought it obsolete, but, were relieved of this misapprehension by Yule’s friend Major Trotter.

2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look at ‘Hobson-Jobson’”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 57

The henna should be deeply dyed to make / The skin relieved appear more fairly fair […]

1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, III.76

The night whose sable breast relieves the stark / White stars is no less lovely being dark

1927, Countee Cullen, From the Dark Tower

As they traveled along L.R. 33060, one of the passengers mentioned he had to relieve himself, so Barrett stopped the car along the berm of the road, which, unbeknown to the travelers, was directly adjacent to a strip mine.

1989, Snyder v. Harmon, 562 A.2d 307 (Pa. 1989) (Zappala, J., writing for the majority), Pennsylvania Supreme Court

For example, the times and locales for defecation and urination have come under tighter regulation in the modern West to meet an increasing demand – explicitly articulated in workplace rules and regulations – that people relieve themselves not whenever or wherever they feel like it but at an appropriate time and place (Inglis & Holmes, 2000).

2017, Hannah Frith, “Ejaculatory Timing and Masculine Identities: The Politics of Ab/normalising Sexual Performance”, in Jonathon Louth, Martin Potter, editors, Edges of Identity: The Production of Neoliberal Subjectivities, Chester, England: University of Chester Press, page 161

Nevertheless, to relieve oneself takes the edge off the desire and doesn't take advantage of others.

2014, Abbie Smith, Celibate Sex: Musings on Being Loved, Single, Twisted, and Holy