rest or refreshment, as after work or effort; recreation a form of rest or recreation: his relaxation is cricket a partial lessening of a punishment, duty, etc the act of relaxing or state of being relaxed the return of a system to equilibrium after a displacement from this state
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
re•lax•a•tion /ˌrilækˈseɪʃən/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- relief from work, effort, etc.:[uncountable]a few moments of relaxation.
- an activity or recreation that provides such relief;
an entertainment:[countable]one of her favorite relaxations. - a loosening;
a becoming less tight:[uncountable]relaxation of the muscles as a result of the drug. - the act of easing, or of making less strict or severe:[uncountable]the relaxation of academic standards.
re•lax•a•tion
(rē′lak sā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
- abatement or relief from bodily or mental work, effort, application, etc.
- an activity or recreation that provides such relief;
diversion;
entertainment. - a loosening or slackening.
- diminution or remission of strictness or severity.
- Mathematicsa numerical procedure for solving systems of equations by successive approximations of the variables.
- Physics
- the return of a system undergoing dissipation to an initial state of equilibrium after being displaced from it.
- the approach to steady-state operation of a system that has undergone dissipation and a change in state or has been subjected to an abrupt periodic disturbance.
- Latin relaxātiōn- (stem of relaxātiō), equivalent. to relaxāt(us) (past participle of relaxāre to relax; see -ate1) + -iōn- -ion
- late Middle English 1375–1425
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged fun, amusement, pleasure.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'rest and relaxation' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):