deflation
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
deflation
n 1: (geology) the erosion of soil as a consequence of sand and
dust and loose rocks being removed by the wind; "a constant
deflation of the desert landscape"
2: a contraction of economic activity resulting in a decline of
prices [ant: {disinflation}, {inflation}, {rising prices}]
3: the act of letting the air out of something [ant:
{inflation}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
deflation \deflation\ n.
1. the act or process of deflating.
[PJC]
2. a fall in the average prices of goods and services; --
usually associated with contraction of economic activity.
Opposite of {inflation}. Compare {disinflation}.
[PJC]
3. the reduction of available credit or a contraction of
economic activity resulting from or associated with a
decline of prices.
[WordNet 1.5]
4. the act of letting the air out of something.
[WordNet 1.5]
5. (Geol.) the erosion of land structures such as sand or
soil due to the action of wind. --RHUD
[PJC]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
83 Moby Thesaurus words for "deflation":
abasement, abatement, abridgment, alleviation, attenuation, break,
breakdown, cave-in, cheapening, collapse, comedown, contraction,
crash, cropper, cut, dampening, damping, debasement, decline,
decrease, decrement, decrescence, deduction, depreciation,
depression, descent, devaluation, diminishment, diminution,
disgrace, dive, downfall, dump, dying, dying off, embarrassment,
extenuation, fade-out, fall, hangdog look, humbled pride,
humiliation, implosion, languishment, lessening, letdown, letup,
lowering, markdown, miniaturization, mitigation, mortification,
nose dive, plummet, plummeting, plunge, pratfall, price cut,
price fall, price reduction, prostration, put-down, reduction,
relaxation, sag, sagging, scaling down, self-abasement,
self-abnegation, self-diminishment, setdown, shame, shamefacedness,
shamefastness, simplicity, slash, slump, smash, stumble,
subtraction, tailspin, tumble, weakening
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