diminishing

diminishing
    adj 1: becoming smaller or less or appearing to do so;
           "diminishing returns"; "his diminishing respect for her"
    

Diminish \Di*min"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Diminished}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Diminishing}.] [Pref. di- (= L. dis-) + minish: cf.
   L. diminuere, F. diminuer, OE. diminuen. See {Dis-}, and
   {Minish}.]
   1. To make smaller in any manner; to reduce in bulk or
      amount; to lessen; -- opposed to {augment} or {increase}.
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            Not diminish, but rather increase, the debt.
                                                  --Barrow.
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   2. To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to
      degrade; to abase; to weaken.
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            This doth nothing diminish their opinion. --Robynson
                                                  (More's
                                                  Utopia).
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            I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule
            over the nations.                     --Ezek. xxix.
                                                  15.
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            O thou . . . at whose sight all the stars
            Hide their diminished heads.          --Milton.
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   3. (Mus.) To make smaller by a half step; to make (an
      interval) less than minor; as, a diminished seventh.
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   4. To take away; to subtract.
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            Neither shall ye diminish aught from it. --Deut. iv.
                                                  2.
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   {Diminished column}, one whose upper diameter is less than
      the lower.

   {Diminished scale}, or {Diminishing scale}, a scale of
      gradation used in finding the different points for drawing
      the spiral curve of the volute. --Gwilt.

   {Diminishing rule} (Arch.), a board cut with a concave edge,
      for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft.

   {Diminishing stile} (Arch.), a stile which is narrower in one
      part than in another, as in many glazed doors.

   Syn: To decrease; lessen; abate; reduce; contract; curtail;
        impair; degrade. See {Decrease}.
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40 Moby Thesaurus words for "diminishing":
      abating, allaying, alleviating, assuaging, blunting, chastening,
      contractive, cushioning, dampening, damping, deadening, declining,
      decreasing, decrescendo, decrescent, deliquescent, diminuendo,
      dulling, dwindling, dying, easing, ebbing, fading, languishing,
      lessening, mitigating, on the wane, receding, reducing, reductive,
      relaxing, retiring, retreating, shrinking, sinking, softening,
      subduing, subsiding, tempering, waning