abate

American  

[uh-bayt] / əˈbeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• abates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• abated,
  past participle,  past
• abating
  present participle

1. 

   to reduce in amount, degree, intensity, etc.; lessen; diminish: to abate one's enthusiasm.

   to abate a tax;

   to abate one's enthusiasm.

   Synonyms:

   weaken, decrease

   Antonyms:

   intensify, increase

2. Law.

   1. to put an end to or suppress (a nuisance).

   2. to suspend or extinguish (an action).

   3. to annul (a writ).

3. to deduct or subtract.

   to abate part of the cost.

4. to omit.

   to abate all mention of names.

5. to remove, as in stone carving, or hammer down, as in metalwork, (a portion of a surface) in order to produce a figure or pattern in low relief.

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verb (used without object)

• abates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• abated,
  past participle,  past
• abating
  present participle

1. to diminish in intensity, violence, amount, etc.: The pain in his shoulder finally abated.

   The storm has abated.

   The pain in his shoulder finally abated.

   Synonyms:

   subside

   Antonyms:

   intensify, increase

2. Law. to end; become null and void.

abate British  

/ əˈbeɪt /

verb

1. to make or become less in amount, intensity, degree, etc

   the storm has abated

2. (tr) law

   1. to remove, suppress, or terminate (a nuisance)

   2. to suspend or extinguish (a claim or action)

   3. to annul (a writ)

3. (intr) law (of a writ, legal action, etc) to become null and void

4. (tr) to subtract or deduct, as part of a price

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• abater
  noun
• abatable
  adjective
• unabatable
  adjective
• unabating
  adjective
• unabatingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• abating
  present
• abated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• abate
  simple
• abates
  simple
• have abated
  perfect
• has abated
  perfect
• am abating
  progressive
• are abating
  progressive
• is abating
  progressive
• have been abating
  perfect progressive
• has been abating
  perfect progressive

Past

• abated
  simple
• had abated
  perfect
• was abating
  progressive
• were abating
  progressive
• had been abating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will abate
  simple
• will have abated
  perfect
• will be abating
  progressive
• will have been abating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of abate

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French abatre “to beat down,” equivalent to a- a- ⁵ + batre, from Late Latin batere for Latin battuere “to beat”; a- perhaps also understood as a- ³

Explanation

Something that abates becomes fewer or less intense. Your enthusiasm for skiing might abate after falling off a ski lift and getting a mouthful of snow. Abate comes from the Old French verb abattre, "to beat down," and means to reduce or become less intense or numerous. As an intransitive verb, it is often used with something physically, emotionally, or figuratively violent, as in "the flood of fan mail began to abate." Using it transitively, if you take measures to abate pollution or noise, you reduce them. Pronounce abate with the stress on the second syllable (uh-BATE).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abate abates abated abating

Crews spent days vacuuming the pool bottom after dumping gallon jugs of hydrogen peroxide into the water to abate the blooms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

This isn’t going to abate as an issue over time, either.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026

Downtown businesses were already struggling when people started buying more retail goods online, a trend that didn’t abate when lockdowns ended, Schuster said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial Corp., thinks Warsh could start to lay out the case for a resumption of interest-rate cuts once inflation pressures have begun to abate.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 14, 2026

Finally, the steam began to abate, and I signaled enough.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

“This year, investors have been more sensitive to Shopify’s cost management and margin dilution, and we believe today’s print largely abates those concerns, and establishes an upward trajectory for FCF margins going forward,” Shao wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

“If the conflict abates by Monday sundown, coinciding with the start of the Jewish holiday Purim, the oil price spike could prove short-lived,” Kaneva wrote.

From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026

After the hubbub abates, Hudson says the hardest part will be knowing that it will be time to say goodbye to the character and the movie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026

As the drama reaches catharsis, the rain abates and the skies clear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

“All alike say ‘Have no convention at this crisis!’...‘Wait until the war excitement abates.’

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

I’m referring to buying stocks that are beaten down by tax-loss selling in the last quarter of the year, which far more often than not rebound in January after that selling has abated.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

“This property should have been proactively secured and abated long before a fire made the danger impossible to ignore.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

While attacks at the Strait of Hormuz have abated for now, those at the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea have turned deadly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The frenzied scenes around this clammy building eventually abated, only for Faye Rogers to spark more bedlam with a rampant gold in the 200m individual medley SM10.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Then she picked me up in her arms and the terror abated for a while.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

And so-called core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose by 0.2% in July from the previous month, a relatively modest increase offering hope that broader price pressures could be abating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

While the wildfires show no sign of abating soon, the UK Foreign Office is currently not advising against travel to France or Spain.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Key details: Health-care providers created about half of the new jobs in June, a big trend in the past two years that shows no sign of abating.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

Interest in options is at the highest level in market history with no signs of abating.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

When there had been no sign of her behaviour abating after a fortnight or so, I think you will understand that I started to become a little impatient.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Related Words

• decrease
• diminish
• dwindle
• ebb
• recede
• slacken
• subside
• taper
• wane