Search Result for "abate": 
Wordnet 3.0

VERB (2)

1. make less active or intense;
[syn: slake, abate, slack]

2. become less in amount or intensity;
- Example: "The storm abated"
- Example: "The rain let up after a few hours"
[syn: abate, let up, slack off, slack, die away]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abate \A*bate"\ ([.a]*b[=a]t"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abated, p. pr. & vb. n. Abating.] [OF. abatre to beat down, F. abattre, LL. abatere; ab or ad + batere, battere (popular form for L. batuere to beat). Cf. Bate, Batter.] 1. To beat down; to overthrow. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls. --Edw. Hall. [1913 Webster] 2. To bring down or reduce from a higher to a lower state, number, or degree; to lessen; to diminish; to contract; to moderate; to cut short; as, to abate a demand; to abate pride, zeal, hope. [1913 Webster] His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. --Deut. xxxiv. 7. [1913 Webster] 3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a price. [1913 Webster] Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds. --Fuller. [1913 Webster] 4. To blunt. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] To abate the edge of envy. --Bacon. [1913 Webster] 5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] She hath abated me of half my train. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 6. (Law) (a) To bring entirely down or put an end to; to do away with; as, to abate a nuisance, to abate a writ. (b) (Eng. Law) To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets. [1913 Webster] To abate a tax, to remit it either wholly or in part. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abate \A*bate"\ ([.a]*b[=a]t"), v. i. [See Abate, v. t.] 1. To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as, pain abates, a storm abates. [1913 Webster] The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly abated. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 2. To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to fail; as, a writ abates. [1913 Webster] To abate into a freehold, To abate in lands (Law), to enter into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, and before the heir takes possession. See Abatement, 4. [1913 Webster] Syn: To subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish; lessen. Usage: To Abate, Subside. These words, as here compared, imply a coming down from some previously raised or excited state. Abate expresses this in respect to degrees, and implies a diminution of force or of intensity; as, the storm abates, the cold abates, the force of the wind abates; or, the wind abates, a fever abates. Subside (to settle down) has reference to a previous state of agitation or commotion; as, the waves subside after a storm, the wind subsides into a calm. When the words are used figuratively, the same distinction should be observed. If we conceive of a thing as having different degrees of intensity or strength, the word to be used is abate. Thus we say, a man's anger abates, the ardor of one's love abates, "Winter's rage abates". But if the image be that of a sinking down into quiet from preceding excitement or commotion, the word to be used is subside; as, the tumult of the people subsides, the public mind subsided into a calm. The same is the case with those emotions which are tumultuous in their nature; as, his passion subsides, his joy quickly subsided, his grief subsided into a pleasing melancholy. Yet if, in such cases, we were thinking of the degree of violence of the emotion, we might use abate; as, his joy will abate in the progress of time; and so in other instances. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abate \A*bate"\ ([.a]*b[=a]t"), n. Abatement. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

abate v 1: make less active or intense [syn: slake, abate, slack] 2: become less in amount or intensity; "The storm abated"; "The rain let up after a few hours" [syn: abate, let up, slack off, slack, die away]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

219 Moby Thesaurus words for "abate": ablate, abolish, abrade, abrogate, abstract, adjust to, allay, alleviate, allow, alter, anesthetize, annihilate, annul, appease, assuage, attemper, attenuate, bank the fire, bate, be eaten away, benumb, blot out, blunt, box in, charge off, chasten, circumscribe, close, condition, constrain, consume, consume away, control, corrode, cramp, cripple, crumble, curtail, cushion, cut, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, deaden the pain, debilitate, decline, decrease, deduct, deliquesce, depreciate, derogate, detract, devitalize, die away, die down, dilute, diminish, discount, disparage, dive, downplay, drain, drop, drop off, dull, dwindle, ease, ease matters, ease off, ease up, eat away, ebb, enervate, enfeeble, eradicate, erode, eviscerate, exhaust, extenuate, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, extract, fall, fall away, fall off, file away, foment, give relief, gruel, hedge, hedge about, impair, invalidate, keep within bounds, kick back, languish, lay, lay low, leach, leaven, lenify, lessen, let down, let up, lighten, limit, loose, loosen, lull, make allowance, melt away, mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mollify, narrow, negate, nullify, numb, obtund, pad, palliate, play down, plummet, plunge, poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, purify, qualify, quash, rattle, rebate, recede, reduce, reduce the temperature, refine, refund, regulate by, relax, relent, relieve, remit, remove, restrain, restrict, retrench, root out, rub away, run its course, run low, sag, salve, sap, season, set conditions, set limits, shake, shake up, shorten, shrink, sink, slack, slack off, slack up, slacken, slake, slow down, smother, sober, sober down, soften, soften up, soothe, stifle, stupe, subduct, subdue, subside, subtract, suppress, tail off, take a premium, take away, take from, take off, tame, taper, taper off, temper, thin, thin out, tone down, tune down, unbend, unbrace, undermine, underplay, undo, unman, unnerve, unstrain, unstrengthen, unstring, vitiate, wane, waste, waste away, water down, weaken, wear, wear away, weed, wipe out, withdraw, write off