(transitive) To raise (something) to a higher position.
- The doctor told me elevating my legs would help reduce the swelling.
- 1750, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 25, 12 June, 1750, Volume 1, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, p. 216,
We know that a few strokes of the axe will lop a cedar; but what arts of cultivation can elevate a shrub?
(transitive) To promote (someone) to a higher rank.
(transitive) To confer honor or nobility on (someone).
- The traditional worldview elevates man as the pinnacle of creation.
- For loftie type of honour through the glaunce
Of enuies dart, is downe in dust prostrate;
(transitive) To make (something or someone) more worthy or of greater value.
- A talented chef can elevate everyday ingredients into gourmet delights.
(transitive) To direct (the mind, thoughts, etc.) toward more worthy things.
(transitive) To increase the intensity or degree of (something).
- Some drugs have the side effect of elevating your blood sugar level.
(transitive, obsolete) To lift the spirits of (someone)
- 1759, Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Edinburgh: A. Kincaid and J. Bell, Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 1, p. 20,
It gives us the spleen […] to see another too happy or too much elevated, as we call it, with any little piece of good fortune.
(dated, colloquial, humorous) To intoxicate in a slight degree; to make (someone) tipsy.
(obsolete, Latinism) To attempt to make (something) seem less important, remarkable, etc.
- 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, London: Richard Royston, Volume 1, Chapter 4, Rule 2, p. 126,
[…] the Arabian Physicians […] endevour to elevate and lessen the thing [i.e. belief in the virgin birth of Jesus], by saying, It is not wholly beyond the force of nature, that a Virgin should conceive […]