decrease

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French descreistre (French: décroître), from Latin decrescere.

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• (verb) enPR: dĭkrēs', IPA^(key): /dɪˈkɹiːs/
• (noun) enPR: dē'krēs, IPA^(key): /ˈdiːkɹiːs/

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• Rhymes: -iːs

decrease (third-person singular simple present decreases, present participle decreasing, simple past and past participle decreased)

1. (intransitive) Of a quantity, to become smaller.
2. (transitive) To make (a quantity) smaller.

• (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

• (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

• decretion
• increase

decrease (countable and uncountable, plural decreases)

1. An amount by which a quantity is decreased.

   One research team has recorded Baishui’s decrease at about 27 meters per year over the last 10 years.

2. (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).

• (amount by which a quantity is decreased): cut, decrement, drop, fall, loss, lowering, reduction, shrinkage

• (amount by which a quantity is decreased): gain, increase, increment, raise (US, of pay), rise

• deceaser