desensitize β To desensitize someone to things such as pain, anxiety, or other people's suffering, means to cause them to react less strongly to them.
impair β to make or cause to become worse; diminish in ability, value, excellence, etc.; weaken or damage: to impair one's health; to impair negotiations.
abate β If something bad or undesirable abates, it becomes much less strong or severe.
alleviate β If you alleviate pain, suffering, or an unpleasant condition, you make it less intense or severe.
anesthetize β to cause anesthesia in; give an anesthetic to
anaesthetize β When a doctor or other trained person anaesthetizes a patient, they make the patient unconscious or unable to feel pain by giving them an anaesthetic.
benumb β to make numb or powerless; deaden physical feeling in, as by cold
blunt β If you are blunt, you say exactly what you think without trying to be polite.
cheque β A cheque is a printed form on which you write an amount of money and who it is to be paid to. Your bank then pays the money to that person from your account.
chloroform β Chloroform is a colourless liquid with a strong sweet smell, which makes you unconscious if you breathe its vapour.
consume β If you consume something, you eat or drink it.
cushion β A cushion is a fabric case filled with soft material, which you put on a seat to make it more comfortable.
freeze β to become hardened into ice or into a solid body; change from the liquid to the solid state by loss of heat.
frustrate β to make (plans, efforts, etc.) worthless or of no avail; defeat; nullify: The student's indifference frustrated the teacher's efforts to help him.