tapering

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

tapering
    adj 1: becoming gradually narrower; "long tapering fingers";
           "trousers with tapered legs" [syn: {tapered}, {tapering},
           {narrowing}]
    2: gradually decreasing until little remains [syn: {dwindling},
       {tapering}, {tapering off}]
    n 1: the act of gradually lowering the size or amount; "the
         doctor prescribed the tapering of the dose"

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Tapering \Ta"per*ing\, a.
   Becoming gradually smaller toward one end. --
   {Ta"per*ing*ly}, adv.
   [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Taper \Ta"per\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Tapered}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Tapering}.]
   To become gradually smaller toward one end; as, a sugar loaf
   tapers toward one end.
   [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

38 Moby Thesaurus words for "tapering":
      acanthoid, acanthous, acicular, acuate, aculeate, aculeiform,
      acuminate, acute, barbed, coarctation, cone-shaped, constriction,
      contraction, cornuted, cusped, cuspidate, hispid, horned, horny,
      mucronate, narrowing, needle-pointed, needle-sharp, pointed,
      pronged, sharp-pointed, spiculate, spiked, spiky, spined, spinous,
      spiny, stricture, taper, tapered, tined, toothed, unbated

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