lightens

Lightens is a verb form used in English. It is the third-person singular present tense of the verb lighten, meaning to make something lighter in weight, brightness, or color. The related noun form is lightening, which refers to the process itself.

Usage spans several domains. In photography, film, and digital editing, lightening refers to increasing brightness or reducing shadows. In a physical sense, to lighten a load or cargo is to reduce weight, while to lighten a ship or vehicle is to decrease its burden or mass.

In color work, lightening describes removing pigment from an object or material to achieve a lighter tone. This occurs in hair coloring, where products lift natural or dyed pigment, and in textiles, where bleaching agents remove color from fabrics.

Examples illustrate the range of meanings. The morning sun lightens the room. They lightened their backpacks for the hike. Her hair lightened after the chemical treatment.

See also: lighten, brightening, bleaching.