| Pronunciation: | | 'lesun
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| Matching Terms: | | lessee, lessened, lessener, lessening, lesseps, lesser, lesser anteater, lesser antilles, lesser ape, lesser apes, lesser bullrush, lesser burdock, lesser butterfly orchid, lesser calamint, lesser celandine, lesser centaury, lesser curve, lesser duckweed, lesser galangal, lesser hemlock, lesser knapweed, lesser kudu, lesser omentum, lesser panda, lesser peritoneal cavity, lesser prairie chicken, lesser rhomboid muscle, lesser rorqual, lesser scaup, lesser scaup duck, lesser spearwort, lesser sunda islands, lesser twayblade, lesser whitethroat, lesser wintergreen, lesser yellow trefoil, lesser yellowlegs, lesses
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
- [v] decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fall to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper"
- [v] wear off or die down; "The pain subsided"
- [v] make smaller; "He decreased his staff"
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| | Synonyms: | | decrease, diminish, fall, minify, subside |
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| | Antonyms: | | increase |
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| | See Also: | | abate, abbreviate, abridge, alter, belittle, boil down, break, bring down, change, change magnitude, circumscribe, concentrate, confine, contract, cut, cut back, cut down, decline, decoct, decrescendo, de-escalate, deflate, depreciate, devaluate, devalue, die away, drop off, dwindle, dwindle away, dwindle down, ease off, ease up, flag, fly, foreshorten, go down, let up, limit, lour, lower, minimise, minimize, mitigate, pare, pare down, reduce, relax, shorten, shrink, shrivel, shrivel up, slack, slack off, slack up, slacken, slacken off, slake, step down, taper, thin out, trim, trim back, trim down, turn down, undervalue, vanish, wane, weaken, wither |
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| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
\Less"en\ (l[e^]s"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Lessened}
(-'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Lessening}.] [From {Less}, a.]
To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to
diminish; to lower; to degrade; as, to lessen a kingdom, or a
population; to lessen speed, rank, fortune.
Charity . . . shall lessen his punishment. --Calamy.
St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men
conspired to lessen it. --Atterbury.
Syn: To diminish; reduce; abate; decrease; lower; impair;
weaken; degrade.
\Less"en\, v. i.
To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be
diminished; as, the apparent magnitude of objects lessens as
we recede from them; his care, or his wealth, lessened.
The objection lessens much, and comes to no more than
this: there was one witness of no good reputation.
--Atterbury.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | abate, ablate, abrade, abridge, abstract, allay, alleviate, allow for, amputate, anesthetize, appease, assuage, attemper, bank the fire, bate, be eaten away, benumb, blunt, chasten, clip, close, color, compress, constrain, consume, consume away, control, corrode, crop, crumble, curtail, cushion, cut, cut back, cut down, damp, dampen, deaden, deaden the pain, decline, decrease, deduct, de-emphasize, deflate, deliquesce, depreciate, depress, derogate, detract, die away, diminish, disparage, dive, downgrade, downplay, drain, drop, drop off, dull, dwindle, ease, ease matters, eat away, ebb, erode, extenuate, extract, fall, fall away, fall off, file away, foment, give relief, gloss over, ignore, impair, keep within bounds, languish, lay, leach, lenify, let up, lighten, lower, lull, make allowance for, melt away, mince, minify, mitigate, moderate, modulate, mollify, numb, obtund, pad, palliate, pare, play down, plummet, plunge, poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, purify, reduce, reduce the temperature, refine, relieve, remove, restrain, retrench, roll back, rub away, run low, sag, salve, scale down, shorten, shrink, simplify, sink, slacken, slake, slow down, slur over, smother, sober, sober down, soften, soft-pedal, soothe, step down, stifle, stupe, subduct, subdue, subside, subtract, suppress, tail off, take away, take from, tame, temper, thin, thin out, tone down, truncate, tune down, underplay, varnish, wane, waste, waste away, weaken, wear, wear away, weed, whitewash, withdraw |
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