Hypertext Webster Gateway: "lessening"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Lessen \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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
lessening
adj : becoming less in dimension or degree; "the lessening
distance between us"
n : a change downward; "there was a sharp drop-off in sales"
[syn: {decrease}, {drop-off}] [ant: {increase}]
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