heal
verb
Simple meaning
To make better from a disease.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
heelIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhil
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
Provide a cure for, make healthy again
intransitive
To become better or healthy again.
transitivefigurative
To reconcile, as a breach or difference; to make whole; to free from guilt.
Get healthy again
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
Used this way, heal is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in medicine or healthcare contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The natural process by which the body repairs itself.
A person skilled in a particular type of therapy.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Leaves make a popular tisane.
Decumbent blue-flowered European perennial thought to possess healing properties.
Care provided through prayer and faith in God.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to make better from a disease or wound
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.