sweeten

• POS: Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: sweet=en

CIDE DICTIONARY

sweeten, v. t. [See Sweet, a.].

•  To make sweet to the taste; as, to sweeten tea.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make pleasing or grateful to the mind or feelings; as, to sweeten life; to sweeten friendship.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make mild or kind; to soften; as, to sweeten the temper.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make less painful or laborious; to relieve; as, to sweeten the cares of life.  Dryden.  [1913 Webster]

  "And sweeten every secret tear."  [1913 Webster]
•  To soften to the eye; to make delicate.  [1913 Webster]

  "Correggio has made his memory immortal by the strength he has given to his figures, and by sweetening his lights and shadows, and melting them into each other."  [1913 Webster]
•  To make pure and salubrious by destroying noxious matter; as, to sweeten rooms or apartments that have been infected; to sweeten the air.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make warm and fertile; -- opposed to sour; as, to dry and sweeten soils.  [1913 Webster]
•  To restore to purity; to free from taint; as, to sweeten water, butter, or meat.  [1913 Webster]

sweeten, v. i. 

 To become sweet.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

sweeten, v.tr. & intr.
1 make or become sweet or sweeter.
2 make agreeable or less painful.

Idiom

sweeten the pill see PILL.

Derivative

sweetening n.

THESAURUS

sweeten

allay, alleviate, appease, assuage, bleach, bowdlerize, brighten, candy, clean, clean out, clean up, cleanse, clear out, conciliate, delouse, depurate, deterge, dress up, dry-clean, dulcify, dust, dust off, ease, edulcorate, embellish, embroider, expurgate, freshen, gild, gild the lily, glaze, honey, lighten, lustrate, mitigate, moderate, mollify, mull, palliate, placate, propitiate, purge, purify, reform, saccharify, scavenge, soften, spruce, steam-clean, sugar, sugar off, sugarcoat, sweep out, temper, tidy, whiten, wipe, wipe off, wipe out, wipe up

ROGET THESAURUS

sweeten

Pleasurableness

VB cause pleasure, produce pleasure, create pleasure, give pleasure, afford pleasure, procure pleasure, offer pleasure, present pleasure, yield pleasure, please, charm, delight, becharm, imparadise, gladden, take, captivate, fascinate, enchant, entrance, enrapture, transport, bewitch, enravish, bless, beatify, satisfy, gratify, desire, slake, satiate, quench, indulge, humor, flatter, tickle, tickle the palate, regale, refresh, enliven, treat, amuse, take one's fancy, tickle one's fancy, hit one's fancy, meet one's wishes, win the heart, gladden the heart, rejoice the heart, warm the cockles of the heart, do one's heart good, attract, allure, stimulate, interest, make things pleasant, popularize, gild the pill, sugar-coat the pill, sweeten.

Sweetness

VB be sweet, render sweet, sweeten, edulcorate, dulcorate, dulcify, candy, mull.