Decrease Definition

dĭ-krēs
decreased, decreases, decreasing
verb
decreased, decreases, decreasing
To become or cause to become less or smaller, as in number, amount, or intensity.
American Heritage
To become or cause to become less, smaller, etc.; diminish.
Webster's New World
To make (a quantity) smaller.
Wiktionary
noun
decreases
A decreasing; lessening; diminution.
Webster's New World
Amount of decreasing.
Webster's New World

(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).

Wiktionary
idiom
on the decrease
  • decreasing
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Decrease

Noun

Singular:
decrease
Plural:
decreases

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Decrease

  • on the decrease

Origin of Decrease

  • Middle English decresen from Old French decreistre decreiss- from Latin dēcrēscere dē- de- crēscere to grow ker-2 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Old French descreistre (French: décroître), from Latin decrescere.

    From Wiktionary

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