decrease

n.

on the decrease

decrease

v.

1. To grow less

   lessen, diminish, decline, abate, modify, wane, deteriorate, degenerate, dwindle, be consumed, sink, settle, lighten, slacken, ebb, lower, melt away, moderate, subside, shrink, contract, recede, shrivel up, depreciate, soften, quiet, narrow down, droop, waste, fade, fade away, run low, weaken, crumble, let up, dry up, slow down, calm down, burn away, burn down, smooth out, die away, die down, lose its edge, wither away, decay, drop off, taper off, tail off, devaluate, evaporate, fall down, fall away, fall off, slack off, wear off, wear away, wear out, wear down, wind down, rev down*, slump*; see also contract 1.

   Antonyms grow*, increase*, multiply. *

2. To make less

   reduce, lessen, lower, check, curb, restrain, quell, tame, mollify, dampen, compose, hush, still, palliate, sober, pacify, allay, blunt, qualify, tranquilize, curtail, subtract, render less, abridge, abbreviate, downsize, condense, shorten, minimize, diminish, slash, attenuate, dilute, retrench, shave, pare, prune, truncate, deplete, abate, mitigate, modify, make brief, digest, limit, level, deflate, compress, contract, strip, thin, bleed, make smaller, devaluate, devalue, clip, abstract, summarize, epitomize, sum up, lighten, trim, rake off, level off, take from, take off, roll back, hold down, mark down, scale down, boil down, let up, cut off, cut down, cut short, cut back, strike off, deduct, knock off*; see also compress, contract 2.

   Antonyms increase*, expand*, augment.

decrease and dwindle suggest a growing gradually smaller in bulk, size, volume, or number, but dwindle emphasizes a marked wasting away to the point of disappearance his hopes decreased as his fortune dwindled away to nothing; lessen is equivalent to decrease, except that it does not imply any particular rate of decline his influence lessened overnight; diminish emphasizes subtraction from the whole by some external agent disease had diminished their ranks; reduce implies a lowering, or bringing down to reduce prices