Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Sweeten \Sweet"en\, v. i.
To become sweet. --Bacon.
Sweeten \Sweet"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sweetened}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Sweetening}.] [See {Sweet}, a.]
1. To make sweet to the taste; as, to sweeten tea.
2. To make pleasing or grateful to the mind or feelings; as,
to sweeten life; to sweeten friendship.
3. To make mild or kind; to soften; as, to sweeten the
temper.
4. To make less painful or laborious; to relieve; as, to
sweeten the cares of life. --Dryden.
And sweeten every secret tear. --Keble.
5. To soften to the eye; to make delicate.
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. --Dryden.
6. To make pure and salubrious by destroying noxious matter;
as, to sweeten rooms or apartments that have been
infected; to sweeten the air.
7. To make warm and fertile; -- opposed to sour; as, to dry
and sweeten soils.
8. To restore to purity; to free from taint; as, to sweeten
water, butter, or meat.
Source : WordNet®
sweeten
v 1: make sweeter in taste [syn: {dulcify}, {edulcorate}, {dulcorate}]
[ant: {sour}]
2: make sweeter, more pleasant, or more agreeable; "sweeten a
deal"