downsize

American  

[doun-sahyz] / ˈdaʊnˌsaɪz /

verb (used with object)

downsized, downsizing

1. to design or manufacture a smaller version or type of.

   The automotive industry downsized its cars for improved fuel economy.

2. to reduce in size or number; cut back.

   Many small businesses are forced to downsize their workforce during a slow economy.

3. to dismiss (an employee); lay off or fire.

   After I was downsized from my marketing position, I took to substitute teaching to make a little money.

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verb (used without object)

1. to become smaller in size or number.

   The military is downsizing— reducing overseas deployments—and as a result is spending less on supplies.

2. to move into a smaller residence.

   Retirees are downsizing these days, giving up oversized and empty nests for apartments that are easier to care for.

adjective

1. Also downsized being of a smaller size or version.

   a downsize car.

downsize British  

/ ˈdaʊnˌsaɪz /

verb

1. to reduce the operating costs of a company by reducing the number of people it employs

2. to reduce the size of or produce a smaller version of (something)

3. to upgrade (a computer system) by replacing a mainframe or minicomputer with a network of microcomputers Compare rightsize

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downsize Cultural  

1. To reduce in number, especially personnel: “The company decided to downsize half the workers in the aircraft division.” It can also be used in reference to objects: “I decided to downsize my wardrobe and threw out all my old T-shirts.”

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Discover More

Downsize is a recent euphemism for “fire, lay off.” Company managers often use this term in an attempt to soften the blow of wide-scale layoffs.

Etymology

Origin of downsize

An Americanism dating back to 1970–75; down ¹ + size ¹

Example Sentences

He added that others are "downsizing and conserving capital to extend their runway".

From Barron's

After pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into U.S. manufacturing, they are downsizing investments, canceling projects and pivoting plants to support making more traditional gas-powered vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal

Breuer was part of a generation of officers whose mission was often to make do with less, focusing on “downsizing and making things more efficient,” he says, “not more effective.”

From The Wall Street Journal

If you can afford to buy another house and/or downsize, your daughter is more likely to receive your share with JTWROS.

From MarketWatch

The job cuts and restructuring add to the workforce reductions that started last October, when the firm announced its first major downsizing in a decade.

From BBC

Related Words

• curtail
• cut back
• cut down
• diminish
• phase out
• reduce
• retrench
• scale down
• shrink
• trim