diminish
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++di·min·ish /dəˈmɪnɪʃ/ ●●○ AWL verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]REDUCE to become or make something become smaller or less （使）减少，（使）减小 SYN reduce The party’s share of the electorate has diminished steadily. 支持这个政党的选民比例持续下降。 These drugs diminish blood flow to the brain. 这些药物会减少流向脑部的血液量。► see thesaurus at decrease2 [transitive]IMPORTANT to deliberately make someone or something appear less important or valuable than they really are 削弱，贬低〔重要性或价值〕 Don’t let him diminish your achievements. 别让他贬低你的成就。 But that’s not to diminish the importance of his discoveries. 不过，这也不是要贬低他的发现的重要性。3. diminishing returns GOOD ENOUGHwhen the profits or advantages you are getting from something stop increasing in relation to the effort you are making 收益递减，报酬递减→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
diminish• The time Foreman spent with his children gradually diminished.• With time, such resistance will doubtless diminish.• Then business diminished, and the partners persuaded Stratford to live off his Prescott estate in Gloucestershire.• Tate said the fences threaten to diminish property values in the neighborhood.• It will diminish rapidly with the distance in relatedness between individuals.• One was the idea of diminishing returns, applied in this case to income or wealth.• When the food has gone, its appeal diminishes, the dance stops, the crowd disperses and a new hunt begins.• "I'm not going to diminish the fact that I was upset, " McMahon said.• Steady rates would diminish the risk that ever-more homeowners will refinance the mortgages underlying the bonds.Origin diminish (1400-1500) diminue ((14-16 centuries)), from Old French diminuer, from Latin minuere “to make less”di·min·ish verbChineseSyllable
become become to Corpus or or smaller make something
diminish
di‧min‧ish AC /dəˈmɪnɪʃ, dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/
verb
SYN reduce:
The party’s share of the electorate has diminished steadily.
These drugs diminish blood flow to the brain.
2. [transitive] to deliberately make someone or something appear less important or valuable than they really are:
Don’t let him diminish your achievements.
But that’s not to diminish the importance of his discoveries.
3. diminishing returns when the profits or advantages you are getting from something stop increasing in relation to the effort you are making
▪ decrease to become less in number or amount: The average rainfall has decreased by around 30 percent.
▪go down to decrease. Go down is less formal than decrease and is the usual word to use in conversation: Unemployment has gone down in the past few months.
▪decline formal to decrease – used with numbers or amounts, or about the level or standard of something: The standard of living has declined. | Support for the government is steadily declining. | Salaries have declined by around 4.5%.
▪diminish to become smaller or less important: Union membership diminished from 30,000 at its height to just 2,000 today.
▪fall/drop to decrease, especially by a large amount. Fall and drop are less formal than decrease: The number of tigers in the wild has fallen to just over 10,000. | At night, the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees.
▪plunge /plʌndʒ//plummet /ˈplʌmət, ˈplʌmɪt/ to suddenly decrease very quickly and by a very large amount: Share prices have plummeted 29% in the last four months. | Climate change could cause global temperatures to plummet.
▪slide if a price or value slides, it gradually decreases in a way that causes problems – used especially in news reports: The dollar fell in late trading in New York yesterday and slid further this morning.
▪dwindle /ˈdwɪndl/ to gradually decrease until there is very little left of something, especially numbers or amounts, popularity, or importance: Support for the theory is dwindling.
▪taper off /ˈteɪpə $ -ər/ if a number or the amount of an activity that is happening tapers off, it gradually decreases, especially so that it stops completely: Political violence tapered off after the elections.
di‧min‧ish AC /dəˈmɪnɪʃ, dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/
verb Date: 1400-1500
Origin: diminue (14-16 centuries), from Old French diminuer, from Latin minuere 'to make less'
1. [intransitive and transitive] to become or make something become smaller or less Origin: diminue (14-16 centuries), from Old French diminuer, from Latin minuere 'to make less'
SYN reduce:
2. [transitive] to deliberately make someone or something appear less important or valuable than they really are:
3. diminishing returns when the profits or advantages you are getting from something stop increasing in relation to the effort you are making
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