Diminishing

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Diminish \Di*min"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Diminished}; p. pr.
     & vb. n. {Diminishing}.] [Pref. di- (= L. dis-) + minish: cf.
     L. diminuere, F. diminuer, OE. diminuen. See {Dis-}, and
     {Minish}.]
     1. To make smaller in any manner; to reduce in bulk or
        amount; to lessen; -- opposed to {augment} or {increase}.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              Not diminish, but rather increase, the debt.
                                                    --Barrow.
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     2. To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to
        degrade; to abase; to weaken.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This doth nothing diminish their opinion. --Robynson
                                                    (More's
                                                    Utopia).
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule
              over the nations.                     --Ezek. xxix.
                                                    15.
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              O thou . . . at whose sight all the stars
              Hide their diminished heads.          --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Mus.) To make smaller by a half step; to make (an
        interval) less than minor; as, a diminished seventh.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To take away; to subtract.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Neither shall ye diminish aught from it. --Deut. iv.
                                                    2.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Diminished column}, one whose upper diameter is less than
        the lower.
  
     {Diminished scale}, or {Diminishing scale}, a scale of
        gradation used in finding the different points for drawing
        the spiral curve of the volute. --Gwilt.
  
     {Diminishing rule} (Arch.), a board cut with a concave edge,
        for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft.
  
     {Diminishing stile} (Arch.), a stile which is narrower in one
        part than in another, as in many glazed doors.
  
     Syn: To decrease; lessen; abate; reduce; contract; curtail;
          impair; degrade. See {Decrease}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  diminishing
       adj : becoming smaller or less or appearing to do so; "diminishing
             returns"; "his diminishing respect for her"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  40 Moby Thesaurus words for "diminishing":
     abating, allaying, alleviating, assuaging, blunting, chastening,
     contractive, cushioning, dampening, damping, deadening, declining,
     decreasing, decrescendo, decrescent, deliquescent, diminuendo,
     dulling, dwindling, dying, easing, ebbing, fading, languishing,
     lessening, mitigating, on the wane, receding, reducing, reductive,
     relaxing, retiring, retreating, shrinking, sinking, softening,
     subduing, subsiding, tempering, waning