Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Attenuate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Attenuate \At*ten"u*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Attenuated}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Attenuating}.] [L. attenuatus, p. p. of
attenuare; ad + tenuare to make thin, tenuis thin. See
{Thin}.]
1. To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical
action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of
starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies.
2. To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or
dense; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the
humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.
3. To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less
complex; to weaken.
To undersell our rivals . . . has led the
manufacturer to . . . attenuate his processes, in
the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point. --I.
Taylor.
We may reject and reject till we attenuate history
into sapless meagerness. --Sir F.
Palgrave.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Attenuate \At*ten"u*ate\, v. i.
To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen.
The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts.
--Coleridge.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Attenuate \At*ten"u*ate\, Attenuated \At*ten"u*a`ted\, a. [L.
attenuatus, p. p.]
1. Made thin or slender.
2. Made thin or less viscid; rarefied. --Bacon.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
attenuate
adj : reduced in strength; "the faded tones of an old recording"
[syn: {attenuated}, {faded}, {weakened}]
v 1: weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance) [syn: {rarefy}]
2: become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude
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