lessening : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: lessening	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for lessening
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
lessening n a change downward; "there was a decrease in his temperature as the fever subsided"; "there was a sharp drop-off in sales" Synonym(s): decrease, lessening, drop-off Antonym(s): increase
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Lessen \Less"en\ (l[ecr]s"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Lessened} (-'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Lessening}.] [From {Less}, a.] To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; as, to lessen a kingdom, or a population; to lessen speed, rank, fortune. Charity . . . shall lessen his punishment. --Calamy. St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it. --Atterbury. Syn: To diminish; reduce; abate; decrease; lower; impair; weaken; degrade.