GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Diminish , 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.]
   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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   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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   (Mus.) To make smaller by a half step; to make (an interval) less than minor; as, a diminished seventh.
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   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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2.       
   Diminish, v. i. To become or appear less or smaller; to lessen; as, the apparent size of an object diminishes as we recede from it.
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