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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
lessen
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
lessen/reduce an effect (=make an effect smaller or less severe)
▪ The government must take action to reduce the effects of pollution.
reduce/lessen the chance of sth
▪ The talks were aimed at reducing the chance of war.
reduce/lessen/soften the impact of sth (=make it less severe or unpleasant)
▪ The chemical industry is looking at ways to reduce its impact on the environment.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
chance
▪ Unfortunately this is not always done, lessening the chances of full and effective usage of the aid provided.
▪ Using those areas for sampling would lessen the chance of an undercount of minorities, she said.
▪ To get out of Palma would lessen her chances of running into Fernando.
▪ The force of the disconnection had certainly lessened the chances of a swift revival of all physical functions.
▪ The hinge connecting the front and rear pieces sits under the instep and lessens the chance of failure due to the metal flexing.
▪ That lessens the chance of profitability and alarms the banks that have insisted on these sales.
▪ This process should lessen the chances of pricing too low or of needlessly giving away other concessions like favourable payment terms.
▪ This could be seen to increase the gulf between special and mainstream education and lessen the chances of functional integration.
effect
▪ The new project will greatly help these cyclists as well as lessening the effects of car pollution.
▪ Beyond a quieter plane ride, NoiseBuster is said to lessen the effects of jet lag.
▪ In fact, various techniques and a belated statutory intervention have combined to lessen the effect of the omission.
impact
▪ He made the decision to lessen the angle of impact by closing the throttle, applying hard up elevator and full right rudder.
risk
▪ This is far quicker, and lessens the risk of damage from charring and scraping.
▪ A better solution is for automakers to develop air bags that inflate more slowly, lessening the risk of injury.
▪ It was felt that these arrangements would lessen the risk of the association being drawn into difficulties if anything else went wrong.
▪ Advisers disagree over whether this increases or lessens the risk, but this is no widows and orphans investment.
▪ The purpose of the statute was to lessen the risk of cattle catching a contagious disease while in transit.
way
▪ And if it can, does that in some way lessen the experience?
▪ These will go a long way to lessen the real danger of accidental war or nuclear catastrophe due to misinformation.
▪ We said that this in no way lessens the grief, but it does perhaps help us prepare for the event.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ By Thursday, smoke in the valley had considerably lessened.
▪ Everyone has their own ideas about the best way to lessen jet lag.
▪ He shifted his position a little, in order to lessen the pain in his leg.
▪ My love for the countryside has never lessened.
▪ Over time, the pain usually lessens, but this may take several months.
▪ Peace talks have lessened the tension between the two countries.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Although violence has lessened since the mid-90s, it has not disappeared.
▪ At the same time, as the Gods become more human, humans themselves become lessened.
▪ Beyond a quieter plane ride, NoiseBuster is said to lessen the effects of jet lag.
▪ Her trusting Donald like this, it was lessening the value of her trust in him.
▪ It should be used as a platform from which to explore the different modes that he suggests of lessening the short-run myopia.
▪ The individual is always trying to reconcile his inner and outer world and lessen the anxiety of the internal situation.
▪ With such a base, your dependency on the organization is lessened.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lessen

Lessen \Less"en\, v. i. To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be diminished; as, the apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we recede from them; his care, or his wealth, lessened.

The objection lessens much, and comes to no more than this: there was one witness of no good reputation.
--Atterbury.

Lessen

Lessen \Less"en\ (l[e^]s"'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lessened (-'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Lessening.] [From Less,

  1. ] To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; as, to lessen a kingdom, or a population; to lessen speed, rank, fortune.

    Charity . . . shall lessen his punishment.
    --Calamy.

    St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it.
    --Atterbury.

    Syn: To diminish; reduce; abate; decrease; lower; impair; weaken; degrade.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
lessen

"to become less," c.1300, from less + -en (1). Related: Lessened; lessening.

Wiktionary
lessen

vb. (context transitive English) To make less; to diminish; to reduce.

WordNet
lessen
  1. v. decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fall to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper" [syn: decrease, diminish, fall] [ant: increase]

  2. make smaller; "He decreased his staff" [syn: decrease, minify] [ant: increase]

  3. wear off or die down; "The pain subsided" [syn: subside]

Usage examples of "lessen".

Tyrold did justice to the sincerity of this offer: and the cheerful acquiescence of lessened reluctance, raised her higher in that esteem to which her constant mind invariably looked up, as the summit of her chosen ambition.

Finally, after having remarked that times of tranquillity were the proper seasons for lessening the national debt, and strengthening the kingdom against future events, he recommended to the commons the improvement of the public revenue, the maintenance of a considerable naval force, the advancement of commerce, and the cultivation of the arts of peace.

Rostov threw his cloak over his shoulders, shouted to Lavrushka to follow with the things, and- now slipping in the mud, now splashing right through it- set off with Ilyin in the lessening rain and the darkness that was occasionally rent by distant lightning.

Any kind of movement in relation to light will obviously be much facilitated by each part circumnutating or bending successively in all directions, so that an already existing movement has only to be increased in some one direction, and to be lessened or stopped in the other directions, in order that it should become heliotropic, apheliotropic, etc.

Preliminary sketch of the sleep or nyctitropic movements of leaves--Presence of pulvini--The lessening of radiation the final cause of nyctitropic movements--Manner of trying experiments on leaves of Oxalis, Arachis, Cassia, Melilotus, Lotus and Marsilea and on the cotyledons of Mimosa--Concluding remarks on radiation from leaves--Small differences in the conditions make a great difference in the result Description of the nyctitropic position and movements of the cotyledons of various plants--List of species--Concluding remarks--Independence of the nyctitropic movements of the leaves and cotyledons of the same species--Reasons for believing that the movements have been acquired for a special purpose.

In any case if the man that has attained felicity meets some turn of fortune that he would not have chosen, there is not the slightest lessening of his happiness for that.

My intimacy with both the husband and the wife fortunately afforded me an opportunity of averting or lessening a good deal of mischief.

She gave up the unequal struggle to cover the wound, but concentrated on getting two fingers over the brachial artery and applying pressure, and was presently rewarded by the sight of the lessened bleeding.

Skin grafting has great value after extensive burns, not because it hastens healing, which it probably does not do, but because it has a marked influence in lessening cicatricial contraction.

When that happens, the ciliary muscles contract, and this lessens the tension on the suspensory ligaments.

However, the clairvoyant impression of impending violence did not lessen.

Then they could no longer refrain themselves, but ran down from the Speech-Hill and the slope about it with great and fierce cries, and clomb the wall where it was unmanned, helping each other with hand and back, both stark warriors, and old men and lads and women: and thus they gat them into the garth and fell upon the lessening band of the Romans, who now began to give way hither and thither about the garth, as they best might.

God doth not lessen their obedience and allegiance to the king, but increaseth it, and maketh the obedience firmer: because we are in covenant with God, we should the more obey a covenanted king.

Once they were through, the danger would lessen, because Blaen, Gwerbret Cwm Peel, kept patrols of riders on his side of the mountains.

An excess of gratitude lessened my high spirits for the rest of the day, and Anastasia did not spend a very lively night with me.