sweeten

From sweet +‎ -en.

• IPA^(key): /ˈswiːtən/

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• Rhymes: -iːtən
• Hyphenation: sweet‧en

sweeten (third-person singular simple present sweetens, present participle sweetening, simple past and past participle sweetened)

1. (transitive) To make sweet to the taste.

   to sweeten tea

2. (transitive) To make (more) pleasant or to the mind or feelings.

   to sweeten life

   to sweeten friendship

3. (transitive) To make mild or kind; to soften.

   to sweeten the temper

4. (transitive) To make less painful or laborious; to relieve.

   to sweeten the cares of life

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Keble:

     And sweeten every secret tear.

5. (transitive) To soften to the eye; to make delicate.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden:

     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.

6. (transitive) To make pure and salubrious by destroying noxious matter.

   to sweeten rooms or apartments that have been infected

   to sweeten the air

7. (transitive) To make warm and fertile.

   to dry and sweeten soils

8. (transitive) To restore to purity; to free from taint.

   to sweeten water, butter, or meat

9. (transitive) To make more attractive; said of offers in negotiations.

   to sweeten the deal by increasing the price offered

10. (intransitive) To become sweet.

• (to make warm and fertile): sour