The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls.
--Edw. Hall.
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.
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
--Deut. xxxiv.
7.
3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a price.
Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds.
--Fuller.
To abate the edge of envy. --Bacon.
5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obs.]
She hath abated me of half my train. --Shak.
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.
{To abate a tax}, to remit it either wholly or in part.
The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly abated.
--Macaulay.
2. To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to
fail; as, a writ abates.
{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.
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.