subside
Americanverb
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to become less loud, excited, violent, etc; abate
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to sink or fall to a lower level
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(of the surface of the earth, etc) to cave in; collapse
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(of sediment, etc) to sink or descend to the bottom; settle
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of subside
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin subsīdere, from sub- sub- + sīdere “to sit down, settle” ( see also sit 1)
Explanation
To subside is to die down or become less violent, like rough ocean waves after a storm has passed (or your seasickness, if you happened to be sailing on that ocean). Subside comes from the Latin prefix sub- (meaning "down") and the Latin verb sidere (meaning "to settle"). Subside is often used when a negative situation has improved significantly. For example, violence, disease, and unemployment can all subside. Here's hoping that they do.
Vocabulary lists containing subside
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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The Giver
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That tragic admission provides the climax of The Wind Will Not Subside, an absorbing, provocative narrative of China's Cultural Revolution.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Wind Will Not Subside contains occasional patches of grandiloquent prose echoing the stilted polemics of Peking.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Subside into a clerk again, and discharge the one who was taken on in your stead, when you were promoted?"
From The Channings by Wood, Henry, Mrs.
Subside, vile discord, and again return to your true 'legiance.
From The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Raspe, Rudolf Erich
When will the flood of human woe, That flows from folly, pride, and sin, Subside, and ever cease to flow?
From The Poets and Poetry of Cecil County, Maryland by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
