The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word EASES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
E
A
S
E
S
More clues leading to the result EASES
- Stops head resigning and relaxes
- Helps to introduce a session
- Moves carefully inside overseas establishment
- Stop ignoring conservative Southern moderates
- Mitigates complaints not involving detective inspectors
- Stops, doesn’t start and relaxes
- Moderates get revolutionary to swallow arsenic
- Rests and rests, having put away litres
- Carefully moves and stands out of line
- Is more relaxed
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "relaxes" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case relaxes = eases.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does EASES mean?
EASES verb- To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc.
- To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain).
- To give respite to (someone).
- To loosen or slacken the tension on a line.
- To reduce the difficulty of (something).
- To move (something) slowly and carefully.
- To lessen in severity.
- To proceed with little effort.