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build-down

[ bild-doun ]
/ ˈbɪldˌdaʊn /
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noun
a process for reducing armaments, especially the number of nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., by eliminating several older weapons for each new one that is deployed.
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Origin of build-down

First recorded in 1980–85; by analogy with buildup
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use build-down in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with build-down

build down

Reduce, diminish, as in Owing to increased vigilance, traffic in narcotics is finally building down. This term, the antonym of build up, came into use about 1980 with regard to reducing the stockpile of nuclear weapons and soon was applied more widely.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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