1
[ verb ] decrease in size, extent, or range

Examples

"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"

Used in print

(The New York Times,...)

It could provide security without cost of armaments and increase German prosperity and lessen taxation .

(Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutiona...)

The temptation is to say that , as the percentage of church_members mounted , the degree of discipline exercised by the churches lessened and the trend was towards conformity to the general level .

(Booth Hemingway and Stuart H. Brown,...)

True , our problems have lessened a_bit as more_and_more of our neighbors have built their own pools , thereby diluting our spectacular attractions .

(Rhode Island Legislative Council. Research Report...)

But cooperation and understanding between local officials and the citizenry help lessen this problem .

(B. J. Chute, The Moon and the Thorn....)

Both church and graveyard were smaller than she remembered them ( how many things had lessened while she was gone away ) but the headstones had grown so thick in thirty years that to find one named `` Dorothy_Tredding '' seemed suddenly impossible .

2
[ verb ] make smaller

Synonyms

decrease minify

Examples

"He decreased his staff"

Used in print

(James Boylan, "Mutinity"...)

As Hudson resumed his desperate criss-crossing of the little bay , every incident lessened the crew 's respect for him .

(U.S. Reports. Volume 366. Cases Adjudged in the...)

It rested its decision solely on 7 , which reads in pertinent part : `` [ N_]_o corporation engaged in commerce shall acquire , directly or indirectly , the whole or any part of the stock or other share capital of another corporation engaged also in commerce , where the effect of such acquisition may be to substantially lessen competition between the corporation whose stock is so acquired and the corporation making the acquisition , or to restrain such commerce in any section or community , or tend to create a monopoly of any line of commerce .

3
[ verb ] wear off or die down

Synonyms

subside

Examples

"The pain subsided"

Used in print

(T. C. McClary, "The Flooded Desert," Argosy,...)

Now he broke them open , hoping a good meal might lessen this depression crushing Hettie .

Related terms

weaken remission

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