Brighten: Definition and part of speech

Brighten

v. i. To grow bright, or more bright; to become less dark or gloomy; to clear up; to become bright or cheerful.
a. To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
a. To make illustrious, or more distinguished; to add luster or splendor to.
a. To improve or relieve by dispelling gloom or removing that which obscures and darkens; to shed light upon; to make cheerful; as, to brighten one’s prospects.
a. To make acute or witty; to enliven.

The word meanings were obtained from OPTED(The Online Plain Text English Dictionary), which is based on “The Project Gutenberg Etext of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary” which is in turn based on the 1913 US Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (See Project Gutenburg), as a text file.

n. A board or plank used as a bridge.
n. A notched board to which the treads and risers of the steps of wooden stairs are fastened.

n. A fortification commanding the extremity of a bridge nearest the enemy, to insure the preservation and usefulness of the bridge, and prevent the enemy from crossing; a tete-de-pont.