The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Relief \Re*lief"\ (r?-l?f"), n. [OE. relef, F. relief, properly,
   a lifting up, a standing out. See Relieve, and cf.
   Basrelief, Rilievi.]
   1. The act of relieving, or the state of being relieved; the
      removal, or partial removal, of any evil, or of anything
      oppressive or burdensome, by which some ease is obtained;
      succor; alleviation; comfort; ease; redress.
      [1913 Webster]

            He sees the dire contagion spread so fast,
            That, where it seizes, all relief is vain. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Release from a post, or from the performance of duty, by
      the intervention of others, by discharge, or by relay; as,
      a relief of a sentry.
      [1913 Webster]

            For this relief much thanks; 'tis bitter cold.
                                                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That which removes or lessens evil, pain, discomfort,
      uneasiness, etc.; that which gives succor, aid, or
      comfort; also, the person who relieves from performance of
      duty by taking the place of another; a relay.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Feudal Law) A fine or composition which the heir of a
      deceased tenant paid to the lord for the privilege of
      taking up the estate, which, on strict feudal principles,
      had lapsed or fallen to the lord on the death of the
      tenant.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Sculp. & Arch.) The projection of a figure above the
      ground or plane on which it is formed.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Relief is of three kinds, namely, high relief
         (altorilievo), low relief, (basso-rilievo), and
         demirelief (mezzo-rilievo). See these terms in the
         Vocabulary.
         [1913 Webster]

   6. (Paint.) The appearance of projection given by shading,
      shadow, etc., to any figure.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Fort.) The height to which works are raised above the
      bottom of the ditch. --Wilhelm.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. (Physical Geog.) The elevations and surface undulations of
      a country. --Guyot.
      [1913 Webster]

   Relief valve, a valve arranged for relieving pressure of
      steam, gas, or liquid; an escape valve.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Alleviation; mitigation; aid; help; succor; assistance;
        remedy; redress; indemnification.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

relief
    n 1: the feeling that comes when something burdensome is removed
         or reduced; "as he heard the news he was suddenly flooded
         with relief" [syn: relief, alleviation, assuagement]
    2: the condition of being comfortable or relieved (especially
       after being relieved of distress); "he enjoyed his relief
       from responsibility"; "getting it off his conscience gave him
       some ease" [syn: relief, ease]
    3: (law) redress awarded by a court; "was the relief supposed to
       be protection from future harm or compensation for past
       injury?"
    4: someone who takes the place of another (as when things get
       dangerous or difficult); "the star had a stand-in for
       dangerous scenes"; "we need extra employees for summer fill-
       ins" [syn: stand-in, substitute, relief, reliever,
       backup, backup man, fill-in]
    5: assistance in time of difficulty; "the contributions provided
       some relief for the victims" [syn: relief, succor,
       succour, ministration]
    6: a pause for relaxation; "people actually accomplish more when
       they take time for short rests" [syn: respite, rest,
       relief, rest period]
    7: a change for the better [syn: easing, moderation,
       relief]
    8: aid for the aged or indigent or handicapped; "he has been on
       relief for many years"
    9: the act of reducing something unpleasant (as pain or
       annoyance); "he asked the nurse for relief from the constant
       pain" [syn: easing, easement, alleviation, relief]
    10: sculpture consisting of shapes carved on a surface so as to
        stand out from the surrounding background [syn: relief,
        relievo, rilievo, embossment, sculptural relief]
    11: the act of freeing a city or town that has been besieged;
        "he asked for troops for the relief of Atlanta"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

339 Moby Thesaurus words for "relief":
   ADC, CYSP sculpture, Medicaid, Medicare, abatement, agent, aid,
   aid and comfort, alimony, allayment, alleviation, allotment,
   allowance, alterative, alternate, alternative, anaglyph,
   anaglyptics, anaglyptography, analeptic, analogy, annuity,
   appeasement, architectural sculpture, assist, assistance,
   assuagement, assurance, auxiliaries, backup, balm, balsam,
   bas-relief, bellying, benefit, benevolence, boldness, bone-carving,
   boss, bounty, bout, break, bulging, cameo, cameo glass, casting,
   cavo-rilievo, ceroplastics, chance, change, changeling, chasing,
   clay sculpture, clemency, coffee break, comfort, commiseration,
   comparison, compassion, condolence, configuration, consolation,
   contour, contrast, copy, corrective, counterfeit,
   cradle-to-grave security, cure, cut glass, decorative sculpture,
   delineation, deliverance, depletion allowance, deputy,
   disburdening, disencumberment, dole, double, downtime, dummy,
   earth art, ease, easement, easing, elevation, embossing,
   embossment, eminence, encouragement, engraving, equal, equivalent,
   ersatz, exchange, excrescence, excrescency, extrusion, fake, favor,
   features, feeling, fellowship, figuration, figure, fill-in,
   financial assistance, forbearance, forgiveness, founding,
   framework, garden sculpture, gem-cutting, gestalt, ghost,
   ghostwriter, gibbosity, gibbousness, glass sculpture, glyph,
   glyptic, glyptograph, go, good offices, grace, grant, grant-in-aid,
   guaranteed annual income, guaranteed income, half time,
   half-time intermission, hand, healing agent, healing quality,
   health insurance, help, high relief, holiday, humanity, imitation,
   inning, innings, intaglio, intaglio rilevato, intaglio rilievo,
   interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence,
   interregnum, interruption, interval, ivory-carving, kindness,
   leniency, letup, liberation, lift, lightening, lineaments, lines,
   locum tenens, lost-wax process, low relief, lull, main features,
   makeshift, mask, medal, medallion, mercy, metal sculpture,
   metaphor, metonymy, ministration, ministry, mitigation, modeling,
   molding, mollification, monumental sculpture, next best thing,
   off-time, office, offices, old-age assistance, old-age insurance,
   opportunity, outline, paper sculpture, pardon, pathos, pause,
   pecuniary aid, pension, personnel, phony, pinch hitter, pity,
   place, plaquette, plaster casting, plastic art, plateau,
   point of repose, portrait sculpture, prescription, price support,
   profile, projection, prominence, protection, protrusion,
   protuberance, protuberancy, proxy, public assistance,
   public welfare, quarter, quiet spell, reassurance, receipt, recess,
   recipe, redress, reinforcements, release, relief-carving, relievo,
   remedial measure, remedy, remission, replacement, representative,
   reprieve, rescue, reserve forces, reserves, respite, resting point,
   restorative, retirement benefits, ringer, round, ruth, salience,
   salient, say, scholarship, sculptor, sculpture, sculptured glass,
   sculpturing, second string, secondary, self-pity, service, shapes,
   shell-carving, shred of comfort, sickness insurance, sign,
   silhouette, skeleton, social insurance, social security,
   social welfare, socialized medicine, softening, solace, solacement,
   sovereign remedy, spares, specific, specific remedy, spell,
   stand-in, state medicine, statuary, stipend, stone sculpture,
   stonecutting, sub, subsidization, subsidy, substituent, substitute,
   substitution, subvention, succedaneum, succor, superseder,
   supplanter, support, surrogate, symbol, sympathy, synecdoche,
   tax benefit, therapy, third string, time, time at bat, time off,
   time out, token, tournure, tuberosity, tuberousness, turn,
   unballasting, unburdening, understudy, unemployment compensation,
   unemployment insurance, unfreighting, unlading, unloading,
   unsaddling, untaxing, utility player, vacation, vicar,
   vice-president, vice-regent, welfare, welfare aid,
   welfare capitalism, welfare payments, welfare state,
   welfare statism, welfarism, whack, whittling, wire sculpture,
   womb-to-tomb security, wood carving, xyloglyphy



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

RELIEF, Eng. law. A relief was an incident to every feudal tenure, by way of
fine or composition with the lord for taking up the estate which was lapsed
or fallen in by the death of the last tenant. At one time the amount was
arbitrary; but afterwards the relief of a knight's fee became fixed at one
hundred shillings. 2 Bl. Com. 65.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

RELIEF, practice. That assistance which a court of chancery will lend to a
party to annul a contract tinctured with fraud, or where there has been a
mistake or accident; courts of equity grant relief to all parties in cases
where they have rights, ex aequo et bono, and modify and fashion that relief
according to circumstances.