Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To make less; reduce. synonym: decrease.
- intransitive verb Archaic To make little of; belittle.
- intransitive verb To become less; decrease.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To become less; contract in bulk, quantity, number, or amount; decrease; diminish; shrink.
- To come to appear less from increase of distance.
- To make less; diminish; reduce in number, size, degree, or quality.
- To degrade; reduce in dignity; depreciate; disparage.
- To cause to appear less from increase of distance; specifically, in falconry, to soar above or beyond.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to diminish; to lower; to degrade
- intransitive verb To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be diminished
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To make less; to
diminish ; toreduce . - verb intransitive To become less.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make smaller
- verb wear off or die down
- verb decrease in size, extent, or range
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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If you have a Marine or Sailor in 1st platoon, don't be surprised if the frequency of your loved ones calls lessen and their e-mails stop altogether.
Marine Corps Moms 2008
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But he knew he would have to use some other stuff to kind of lessen the sting of his disagreement with how McCain is handling that situation about a confidential source.
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But he knew he would have to use some other stuff to kind of lessen the sting of his disagreement with how McCain is handling that situation about a confidential source.
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Nor will they "lessen" it or compromise it in anyway.
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For me the major breakthrough in my personal feminism was realizing that I didn't have to either agree with or even understand other's choices but that it did not "lessen" them as women or feminists.
Feminism, adultery & choice Elizabeth McClung 2006
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EDITED TO ADD: After 5 lovely people had read and commented on this entry, I realized I had typed the word "lessen" instead of the more appropriate "lesson" in the second to last paragraph.
purplecigar Diary Entry purplecigar 2004
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Could it be that when you grow up knowing that you are a disadvantaged minority in a society, you also "lessen" your dreams?
JSOnline.com JSOnline.com 2010
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I saw a giant need for us as a species to not only "lessen" our dependence on carbon based fuels, but to do away with our utilization of them as a fuel source period!
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When dealing with job titles that are higher-level than the positions for which you are applying, reduce bulleted points under these titles in the resume, and potentially "lessen" the title to a more appropriate name (as many companies will give you big titles in exchange for less compensation).
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In an attempt to 'lessen' the gang-rape and murder of Abeer, they insisted she was 26-years-old.
The Common Ills 2009
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