# love away

CEFR C1 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/love-away
Updated: 2026-10-22

## Definition

to make someone's bad feelings or pain disappear by showing them a lot of love.

For teachers: to cause a negative emotional state or distress to dissipate through the application of affection. This resultative phrasal verb uses 'away' to indicate the removal or disappearance of the object.

## Examples

- She tried to love his worries away.
- After the child's nightmare, his parents stayed with him all night to love the fear away.
- The novel explores the naive belief that a stable home environment can love away the psychological damage of early childhood neglect.

## Pitfalls

- Not "I will love away you." but "I will love your sadness away." — The object must be the feeling you want to remove, not the person receiving the love.

## Usage notes

- The object is typically an abstract noun representing a negative feeling like pain, fear, or sadness.
- Teaching tip: Highlight the resultative function of 'away', which appears in many verbs like 'wash away' or 'scare away' to indicate something vanishing.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.