leaven

“Weapons” has something for everyone: jump scares for horrorphiles, nods to classics like “Rashomon” and “Magnolia” for film buffs, and more than a few laughs to leaven the tension.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025

She tries to leaven that determination by arguing that Congress would be unlikely to pass one.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2024

An hour or two each week grappling with wood planks or mixing batter can leaven a long and monotonous school day.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023

In the evening we will start with the first dough and when it's complete we let it leaven and rise overnight.

From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2023

A leaven of love was left, it is true— Lancelot, Gareth, Aglovale and a few old dodderers like Sir Grummore and Sir Palomides: but the tone was set elsewhere.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

It combines sharp-eyed intelligence with genuine modesty and leavens clever opportunism with the recognition that all men are created equal, even if some are less equal in their instincts for getting paid.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Whether the songs are presented in their orchestral splendor or as frenetic electronica, each needle drop leavens the natural comedy of John’s frantic awkwardness or captures his chronic sorrow.

From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2025

The yeast is tolerant of this acidic environment, and it ferments carbohydrates other than maltose to produce the carbon dioxide that leavens the bread.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 1, 2023

Variegated foliage, along with turquoise and purple accents in the garden, leavens the darker hues.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2021

Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?

From The World English Bible (WEB): 1 Corinthians by Anonymous

To begin with, there’s its ingratiating style, leisurely but leavened with wit and chutzpah, as well as Fiedler’s pervasive disdain for the sentimental and ersatz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Closely cropped and dramatically lighted, the tight composition gives the familiar scene a new immediacy and intimacy, leavened by the playful interaction of the Christ child and St. John.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

The series largely belongs to them — both actors are terrific, Shannon imbuing Garfield with a gravity leavened with kindness and humor, Macfadyen’s Guiteau, optimistically dedicated to his delusions yet always about to pop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025

The most significant missing piece is the prevalent wry humor that leavened “Mare” in its darkest moments.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2025

Not a crumb or speck of leavened bread could be found anywhere.

From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride

The film’s comedy won’t appeal to all tastes, but some will welcome the leavening effect it has on the movie’s more frightening aspects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025

Attending nuns push not gurneys but shopping carts, leavening the tragic with the mundane.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2022

The leavening gives the brownies a little lift, which helps them hold their swirl while baking.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2022

Instead of leavening the gravity, D’Angelo, joined by the pianist Sophia Muñoz in the Armory’s Board of Officers Room, doubled down.

From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2022

He recorded the moment in his journal, leavening his relief with the one overriding concern that had lent urgency to the work of all the atomic scientists of those years.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik