decrease
English
Etymology
From Middle English decresen, alteration of discresen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French descreistre (French: décroître), from Latin decrescere.
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file) - (verb) enPR: dĭkrēs', IPA(key): /dɪˈkɹiːs/
- (noun) enPR: dē'krēs, IPA(key): /ˈdiːkɹiːs/
- Rhymes: -iːs
Verb
decrease (third-person singular simple present decreases, present participle decreasing, simple past and past participle decreased)
- (intransitive) Of a quantity, to become smaller.
- The quality of our products has decreased since the main designer left.
- (transitive) To make (a quantity) smaller.
- Let's decrease the volume a little so we can hear each other talking.
Synonyms
- (become smaller): drop, fall, go down, plummet (rapidly), plunge (rapidly), reduce, shrink, sink; See also Thesaurus:decrease
- (make smaller): abate, cut, decrement, lower, reduce; See also Thesaurus:diminish
Antonyms
- (become larger): go up, grow, increase, rise, soar (rapidly), shoot up (rapidly); See also Thesaurus:increase
- (make larger): increase, increment, raise, up (informal); See also Thesaurus:augment
Related terms
- decretion
- increase
Translations
become smaller
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make smaller
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Noun
decrease (countable and uncountable, plural decreases)
- An amount by which a quantity is decreased.
- After six years of constant growth, the company reported a slight decrease in sales last year.
- One research team has recorded Baishui’s decrease at about 27 meters per year over the last 10 years.
- (knitting) A reduction in the number of stitches, usually accomplished by suspending the stitch to be decreased from another existing stitch or by knitting it together with another stitch. See Decrease (knitting).
Synonyms
- (amount by which a quantity is decreased): cut, decrement, drop, fall, loss, lowering, reduction, shrinkage
Antonyms
- (amount by which a quantity is decreased): gain, increase, increment, raise (US, of pay), rise
Translations
amount of decrease
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Anagrams
- deceaser