abate

abate 1 *abolish, extinguish, annihilate

Analogous words: end, terminate (see CLOSE): *annul, void, abrogate: cancel, obliterate (see ERASE): *nullify, invalidate

Antonyms: perpetuate

Contrasted words: *continue, last, persist, abide

2 reduce, diminish, *decrease, lessen

Analogous words: retard, slow, slacken, *delay: *moderate, temper: mitigate, lighten, alleviate (see RELIEVE)

Antonyms: augment: accelerate (pace, speed): intensify (hopes, fears, a fever)

Contrasted words: *increase, multiply, enlarge: aggravate, heighten, enhance (see INTENSIFY): *speed, quicken, hurry

3 abate, subside, wane, ebb all mean to die down in force or intensity; all imply previous approach to a high point and present movement or decline towards a vanishing point.

Abate, however, stresses the idea of progressive diminution in intensity while subside suggests falling to a low level and cessation of turbulence or agitation

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the wind is abating; the waves are subsiding

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the revolutionary spirit has abated— Grandgent

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the child’s quick temper subsided into listlessness under the fierce Italian heat— Repplier

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Wane adds to abate the implications of fading or weakening; it tends, therefore, to be used of things that have value or excellence as well as force and intensity

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after the first flush of excitement, the interest of doctors, nurses, and patients all began to wane— Heiser

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Ebb adds to abate the suggestion of recession or of gradual loss; it is idiomatically associated with things subject to fluctuation

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ebbing vitality is often a warning of illness

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there were many, many stages in the ebbing of her love for him, but it was always ebbing— D. H. Lawrence

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Analogous words: dwindle, diminish, *decrease

Antonyms: rise: revive

Contrasted words: *increase, augment: *expand, swell, dilate: mount, soar, tower, surge (see RISE)