Diminish /(?)/

Di·min·ish

Diminish

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Diminished; p. pr. & vb. n. Diminishing

  1. To make smaller in any manner; to reduce in bulk or amount; to lessen; -- opposed to augment or increase.
    Not diminish, but rather increase, the debt.
  2. To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken.
    This doth nothing diminish their opinion.
    — Robynson (More's Utopia).
    I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
    — Ezek. xxix. 15.
    O thou . . . at whose sight all the stars Hide their diminished heads.
  3. To make smaller by a half step; to make (an interval) less than minor; as, a diminished seventh. (Mus.)
  4. To take away; to subtract.
    Neither shall ye diminish aught from it.
    — Deut. iv. 2.

Phrases & Compounds
Diminished column
one whose upper diameter is less than the lower.
Diminished scale
a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute.
Diminishing rule
a board cut with a concave edge, for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft.
Diminishing stile
a stile which is narrower in one part than in another, as in many glazed doors.

Diminish

v. i.
  1. To become or appear less or smaller; to lessen; as, the apparent size of an object diminishes as we recede from it.