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to make easier to endure; lessen; mitigate:
to alleviate sorrow; to alleviate pain.
Contemporary Examples

To present the GOP as a party committed to alleviating party.
Paul Ryan’s Proposed War on Poverty Is Hobbled by Conservative Ideology Jamelle Bouie January 13, 2014

And we believe what we are doing is alleviating our dependence on fossil fuels.
A New Project Makes Owning an Ecofriendly Smart House Possible for More Than Just the 1 Percent Edward Ferguson July 31, 2013

Historical Examples

How much good might be done by womanhood, if they would devote their time, means and energy to alleviating suffering.
The Story of a Life J. Breckenridge Ellis

My life will be devoted to alleviating the sorrows of the poor and wretched.
Oswald Langdon Carson Jay Lee

To spend one’s life instructing man is but second in importance to alleviating his sufferings.
Mary, Help of Christians Various

She searched for some alleviating suggestion, some happier hope; none came.
Moods Louisa May Alcott

Satisfied, however, with alleviating the public burden, they attempted not to remove it.
The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon

Could this money be more usefully employed than in alleviating these evils?
Arthur Mervyn Charles Brockden Brown

But now of this idolized husband she was bereaved in a moment, and without any alleviating circumstances.
A Woman’s Love Amelia Alderson Opie

Although I am desirous of alleviating this, I cannot, as I also am poor.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XVII, 1609-1616 Various

verb
(transitive) to make (pain, sorrow, etc) easier to bear; lessen; relieve
v.

late 15c., from Middle French allevier or directly from Late Latin alleviatus, past participle of alleviare “to lighten,” from Latin ad- “to” (see ad-) + levis “light” in weight (see lever). Related: Alleviated; alleviating.