lessen

less·en  (lsn)

v. less·ened, less·en·ing, less·ens

v.tr.

1. To make less; reduce.

2. Archaic To make little of; belittle.

v.intr.

To become less; decrease. See Synonyms at decrease.

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[Middle English lessen, lessenen, from lesse, less; see less.]

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lessen [ˈlɛs^ən]

vb

1. to make or become less

2. (tr) to make little of

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lessen

• alleviate - Can mean "diminish the weight of"; to alleviate is not to cure, but rather to lighten, lessen, or relieve to some degree.
• minute, second - Latin minutus, "small," came from minuere, "lessen," and the term pars minuta prima, "first small part," was applied to a 60th of a whole—a minute, originally of a circle and later of an hour; likewise, a second was originally a secunda minuta, a 60th of a 60th.
• mince - Can mean "lessen or diminish (something)" or "minimize."
• bated breath - The expression is based on bate, meaning "to moderate, restrain" or "to lessen, diminish"; though bated was once rather common, it is now rare except in this set expression.

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	lessen - decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper" decrease, diminish, fall break - diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke last night" shrivel, shrink - decrease in size, range, or extent; "His earnings shrank"; "My courage shrivelled when I saw the task before me" taper - diminish gradually; "Interested tapered off" drop off - fall or diminish; "The number of students in this course dropped off after the first test" vaporize, vanish, fly - decrease rapidly and disappear; "the money vanished in las Vegas"; "all my stock assets have vaporized" break - fall sharply; "stock prices broke" ease off, slacken off, ease up, flag - become less intense change magnitude - change in size or magnitude weaken - become weaker; "The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days" boil down, decoct, concentrate, reduce - be cooked until very little liquid is left; "The sauce should reduce to one cup" shrink, contract - become smaller or draw together; "The fabric shrank"; "The balloon shrank" shrink, shrivel, shrivel up, wither - wither, as with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried and shriveled" die away, let up, slack off, abate, slack - become less in amount or intensity; "The storm abated"; "The rain let up after a few hours" deflate - become deflated or flaccid, as by losing air; "The balloons deflated" dwindle, dwindle away, dwindle down - become smaller or lose substance; "Her savings dwindled down" remit - diminish or abate; "The pain finally remitted" de-escalate - diminish in size, scope, or intensity; "The war of words between them de-escalated with time" devaluate, devalue, undervalue, depreciate - lose in value; "The dollar depreciated again" shorten - become short or shorter; "In winter, the days shorten" thin out - become sparser; "Towards the end of town, the houses thinned out" wane, go down, decline - grow smaller; "Interest in the project waned" wane - decrease in phase; "the moon is waning" wane - become smaller; "Interest in his novels waned" decelerate, slow, slow down, slow up, retard - lose velocity; move more slowly; "The car decelerated" decrescendo - grow quieter; "The music decrescendoes here"
	2.	lessen - make smaller; "He decreased his staff" minify, decrease alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" suppress - reduce the incidence or severity of or stop; "suppress a yawn"; "this drug can suppress the hemorrhage" mitigate - make less severe or harsh; "mitigating circumstances" pare, pare down - decrease gradually or bit by bit circumscribe, confine, limit - restrict or confine, "I limit you to two visits to the pub a day" boil down, concentrate, reduce - cook until very little liquid is left; "The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time" shrink, reduce - reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water will shrink the sweater"; "Can you shrink this image?" abbreviate, abridge, foreshorten, shorten, contract, reduce, cut - reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The manuscript must be shortened" abate, slake, slack - make less active or intense lour, lower, turn down - make lower or quieter; "turn down the volume of a radio" de-escalate, step down, weaken - reduce the level or intensity or size or scope of; "de-escalate a crisis" minimize, minimise - make small or insignificant; "Let's minimize the risk" cut down, reduce, trim back, trim down, cut, cut back, trim, bring down - cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat intake"; "The employer wants to cut back health benefits" cut - have a reducing effect; "This cuts into my earnings" slack up, slacken, slack, relax - make less active or fast; "He slackened his pace as he got tired"; "Don't relax your efforts now" diminish, belittle - lessen the authority, dignity, or reputation of; "don't belittle your colleagues"
	3.	lessen - wear off or die down; "The pain subsided" subside weaken - become weaker; "The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days"

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lessen

verb

1. reduce, lower, diminish, decrease, relax, ease, narrow, moderate, weaken, erode, impair, degrade, minimize, curtail, lighten, wind down, abridge, de-escalate Keep immunisations up to date to lessen the risk of serious illness.
reduce increase, raise, boost, expand, add to, enhance, enlarge, multiply, magnify, augment

2. grow less, diminish, decrease, contract, ease, weaken, shrink, slow down, dwindle, lighten, wind down, die down, abate, slacken The attention she gives him will certainly lessen once the baby is born.

Translations

lessen [ˈlesn]

A. VT [+ risk, danger] → reducir; [+ pain] → aliviar; [+ cost, stature] → rebajar
it will lessen your chances of getting the job → disminuirá las posibilidades que tienes de conseguir el puesto

B. VI [noise, anger, love] → disminuir; [pain] → aliviarse

lessen [ˈlɛs^ən]

vt [+ impact, effects] → diminuer; [+ risk, chances] → diminuer; [+ pain] → atténuer

vi [pain, anxiety, tension] → s'atténuer; [burden] → diminuer

lessen

vt

(= make less) → verringern; cost → senken, vermindern; effect, impact → vermindern, abschwächen; pain → lindern

(= make seem less important etc) → herabsetzen, herabwürdigen

vi → nachlassen; (danger, wind, enthusiasm, difficulty also) → abnehmen; (value of money) → sich verringern, abnehmen

lessen [ˈlɛsn]

1. vt (gen) → diminuire, ridurre; (pain) → alleviare; (cost, tension) → ridurre; (shock) → attutire, attenuare

2. vi (gen) → diminuire, ridursi; (shock) → attenuarsi