(verb) : rĕ-laxo, āvi, ātum, 1
* To stretch out or widen again; to unloose, loosen, open (class.; cf.: solvo, libero).
* Lit.: alvus tum astringitur, tum relaxatur,Cic. N. D. 2, 54, 136; cf.: tum astringentibus se intestinis tum relaxantibus,id. ib. 2, 55, 138: densa relaxare (opp. rara densare),Verg. G. 1, 419: dissolvunt nodos omnes et vincla relaxant,Lucr. 6, 356: tunicarum vincula, Ov. F. 2, 321; cf. nodos (sc. aquaï),Lucr. 6, 878 (with exsolvere glaciem); cf.: fontibus ora,Ov. M. 1, 281: caecos fontes,Sil. 3, 51: glaebas,to loosen,Varr. R. R. 1, 27, 2: humum,Col. 11, 3, 46 Schneid. N. cr.; Pall. 2, 13, 3: vias et caeca Spiramenta,Verg. G. 1, 89: claustra,Ov. Am. 1, 6, 17; cf. flores,Sen. Thyest. 903: diversa bracchia,to spread out,Sil. 14, 399: arcum,to unbend,Sen. Agam. 322: ut, quae (aedificia) sunt vetustate sublapsa, relaxentur in melius,restored,Plin. Ep. 10, 70 (75), 1 Keil (al. reparentur).
* Trop., to slacken, ease, lighten, alleviate, mitigate, soften, assuage; to cheer up, enliven, relax (a favorite word of Cic.; cf.: relevo, recreo, mitigo): animos doctrinā,Cic. Arch. 6, 12; cf.: tu a contentionibus cottidie relaxes aliquid,id. Leg. 1, 4, 11: quaero enim non quibus intendam rebus animam, sed quibus relaxem, ac remittam, id. Fragm. ap. Non. 329, 7, and 383, 23: constructio verborum tum conjunctionibus copuletur, tum dissolutionibus relaxetur,id. Part. 6, 21: pater nimis indulgens, quicquid ego astrinxi, relaxat,id. Att. 10, 6, 2: animus somno relaxatus,id. Div. 2, 48, 100: animum,id. Brut. 5, 21; id. Rep. 1, 9, 14; cf.: relaxare animos et dare se jucunditati,id. Off. 1, 34, 122: ut ex pristino sermone relaxarentur animi omnium,id. de Or. 1, 8, 29: anxiferas curas requiete, id. poët. Div. 1, 13, 22: (risus) tristitiam ac severitatem mitigat et relaxat,id. de Or. 2, 58, 236; cf.: tristem vultum relaxare,Sen. Cons. ad Helv. 15; and, with this, cf.: relaxato in hilaritatem vultu,Petr. 49, 8: ne nocturna quidem quiete diurnum laborem relaxante,Curt. 5, 13, 5: mores aetas lasciva relaxat, i. e. makes dissolute, Claud. Prob. et Olybr. 153: (animi) cum se plane corporis vinculis relaxaverint,Cic. Sen. 22, 81; Claud. Rapt. Pros. 2, 330: se occupationibus,Cic. Fam. 7, 1, 5; id. Att. 16, 16, 2: se a nimiā necessitate,id. Or. 52, 176. — Mid.: homines quamvis in turbidis rebus sint, tamen interdum animis relaxantur,Cic. Phil. 2, 16, 39: insani cum relaxentur,when they come to themselves, when the attack abates,id. Ac. 2, 17, 52.— Absol.: (dolor) si longus, levis; dat enim intervalla et relaxat,Cic. Fin. 2, 29, 94.