# lightening

Pronunciation: say "LY-tuhn-ing" /ˈlaɪ.tn̩.ɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle and gerund of lighten. — present participle and gerund of lighten
   - Simple: Present participle and gerund of lighten. Use it after is or was, or as a noun.
   - _Hiring two more nurses went a long way toward lightening the workload on the night shift._
   - _Mirrors on the far wall help by lightening the narrow, windowless hallway._

## Noun

2. The act of making something light or lighter, or the lighter state that results.
   - Simple: The act of making something lighter, or the lighter state that comes after.
   - _There was a noticeable lightening of the mood in the office once the deadline had passed._
   - _A careful lightening of the truck's load let it climb the mountain pass without overheating._
3. The sensation a pregnant woman feels when the uterus descends into the pelvic cavity before labor begins.
   - Simple: The feeling of the womb dropping lower in the body before the birth begins.
   - _Her midwife explained that the new pressure low in her pelvis was lightening, a sign that labor was getting closer._
   - _After lightening, she could finally take a deep breath, though she needed the bathroom far more often._
4. The unloading of cargo, especially crude oil, from a vessel to reduce its draft.
   - Simple: Taking some of the load, often oil, off a ship so it sits higher in the water.
   - _The supertanker anchored offshore for lightening, transferring part of its crude to smaller tankers before entering the harbor._
   - _Without a lightening operation, the fully loaded ship's draft was too deep for the river channel._

## Noun

5. Alternative form of lightning. *(obsolete)* — Alternative form of lightning.
   - Simple: Alternative form of lightning. Today the spelling is usually treated as a mistake.

## Origin

Doublet of lightning.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lightening (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).