decrease

[ verb dih-krees; noun dee-krees, dih-krees ]
See synonyms for decrease on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),de·creased, de·creas·ing.
  1. to diminish or lessen in extent, quantity, strength, power, etc.: During the ten-day march across the desert their supply of water decreased rapidly.

verb (used with object),de·creased, de·creas·ing.
  1. to make less; cause to diminish: to decrease one's work load.

noun
  1. the act or process of decreasing; condition of being decreased; gradual reduction: a decrease in sales;a decrease in intensity.

  2. the amount by which a thing is lessened: The decrease in sales was almost 20 percent.

Origin of decrease

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb decresen, from Old French decreiss-, long stem of decreistre, from Latin dēcrēscere “to diminish,” literally “to grow down,” equivalent to dē- de- + crēscere “to grow”); noun derivative of the verb; see crescent

synonym study For decrease

1. Decrease, diminish, dwindle, shrink imply becoming smaller or less in amount. Decrease commonly implies a sustained reduction in stages, especially of bulk, size, volume, or quantity, often from some imperceptible cause or inherent process: The swelling decreased daily. Diminish usually implies the action of some external cause that keeps taking away: Disease caused the number of troops to diminish steadily. Dwindle implies an undesirable reduction by degrees, resulting in attenuation: His followers dwindled to a mere handful. Shrink especially implies contraction through an inherent property under specific conditions: Many fabrics shrink in hot water.

Other words for decrease

Opposites for decrease

Other words from decrease

  • un·de·creased, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use decrease in a sentence

  • Uric acid is decreased before an attack of gout and increased afterward, but its etiologic relation is still uncertain.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • Red corpuscles and hemoglobin are commonly decreased together, although usually not to the same extent.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • (b) In secondary anemia plaques are generally increased, although sometimes decreased.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • (c) They are decreased in chronic lymphatic leukemia, and greatly increased in the myelogenous form.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • In the former it is usually much decreased; in the latter, generally much increased.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd

British Dictionary definitions for decrease

decrease

verb(dɪˈkriːs)
  1. to diminish or cause to diminish in size, number, strength, etc

noun(ˈdiːkriːs, dɪˈkriːs)
  1. the act or process of diminishing; reduction

  2. the amount by which something has been diminished

Origin of decrease

1
C14: from Old French descreistre, from Latin dēcrescere to grow less, from de- + crescere to grow

Derived forms of decrease

  • decreasing, adjective
  • decreasingly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012