decrease

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English

Etymology

From Middle English decresen, alteration of discresen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French descreistre (French: décroître), from Latin decrescere.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)
  • (verb) enPR: dĭkrēs', IPA(key): /dɪˈkɹiːs/
  • (noun) enPR: dē'krēs, IPA(key): /ˈdiːkɹiːs/
  • Rhymes: -iːs

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) Of a quantity, to become smaller.
    The quality of our products has decreased since the main designer left.
  2. (transitive) To make (a quantity) smaller.
    Let's decrease the volume a little so we can hear each other talking.

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Noun

decrease (countable and uncountable, plural decreases)

  1. An amount by which a quantity decreases or is decreased.
    After six years of constant growth, the company reported a slight decrease in sales last year.
    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).

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