Crossword clues for cheapen
cheapen
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cheapen \Cheap"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cheapened; p. pr. & vb. n. Cheapening.] [OE. cheapien, chepen, to trade, buy, sell, AS. ce['a]pian; akin to D. koopen to buy, G. kaufen, Icel. kaupa, Goth. kaup[=o]n to trade. Cf. Chap to bargain.]
-
To ask the price of; to bid, bargain, or chaffer for.
Pretend to cheapen goods, but nothing buy.
--Swift. -
[Cf. Cheap, a.] To beat down the price of; to lessen the value of; to depreciate.
--Pope.My proffered love has cheapened me.
--Dryden.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1570s, "ask the price of," from cheap (adj.) + -en (1). Meaning "lower the price of" is from 1833, but figuratively, "to lower in estimation" is from 1650s. Related: Cheapened; cheapening.
Wiktionary
vb. 1 (context transitive English) to decrease the value of; to make cheap 2 (context transitive English) to make vulgar 3 (context intransitive English) to become cheaper 4 (context obsolete English) to bargain for, ask the price of.
WordNet
v. lower the grade of something; reduce its worth [syn: degrade]
Usage examples of "cheapen".
So Ralph thought and called to mind that strong little steel axe of the man whom he had slain yesterday, and asked for the sight of such a weapon, if he might perchance cheapen it.
There was a half score and three of these chattels to be sold, who stood up one after other on the stone, that folk might cheapen them.
In olden times they were introduced into ink with an honest belief that it would also improve and ensure its lasting qualities, but latterly more often to cheapen the cost of its manufacture.
They cheapen the price so as to gain a circulation, which advertisers cater for.
But why drag Miss Sherwood, who is innocent in every way, into a criminal story that will serve to cheapen her and every decent person involved?
Joivita cheapened the word, so that Rainaut did not want to use it for Olivia once he had given it to Joivita.
And his base offer had cheapened something precious that she would have given him without counting the cost.
I love you: that is the most I can say without cheapening the worth of loving.
Nothing else has been so powerful in changing these customs as the cheapening of tea and coffee and cocca, but especially tea.
He was a cunning fellow, who knew the best way to prevent me cheapening him, but there was no need, as I thought his charges reasonable, and as I paid him in full he went off in great glee.
What does the saleslady know about the way gold buttons can cheapen a blouse?
Why a grown-up young woman allowed herself to be cheapened in the way so many of them do by the use of names which become them as well as the frock of a ten-year-old schoolgirl would become a graduate of the Corinna Institute, the old postmaster could not guess.
This trestle bridge plan of expediting the completion, and cheapening the construction, of new railways, wants more study, at home.
I chose stockings and vests to the amount of twenty-five louis, and I paid the price without trying to cheapen them.
He was a cunning fellow, who knew the best way to prevent me cheapening him, but there was no need, as I thought his charges reasonable, and as I paid him in full he went off in great glee.