decrease

verb

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de·crease | \ di-ˈkrēs

, ˈdē-ˌkrēs

decreased; decreasing

Definition of decrease

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

: to grow progressively less (as in size, amount, number, or intensity) Yearly sales decreased by five percent. His little remaining strength had been decreasing rapidly for two or three days preceding …— Charles Dickens

transitive verb

: to cause to decrease decrease the risk of heart disease trying to decrease our use of fossil fuels

decrease

noun

de·crease | \ ˈdē-ˌkrēs

, di-ˈkrēs

Definition of decrease (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : the process of growing progressively less (as in size, amount, number, or intensity) : the process of decreasing a decrease in productivity

2 : an amount of diminution : reduction a decrease of 20,000 saw a 20% decrease in violent crime

Other Words from decrease Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about decrease

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Choose the Right Synonym for decrease

Verb

decrease, lessen, diminish, reduce, abate, dwindle mean to grow or make less. decrease suggests a progressive decline in size, amount, numbers, or intensity. slowly decreased the amount of pressure lessen suggests a decline in amount rather than in number. has been unable to lessen her debt diminish emphasizes a perceptible loss and implies its subtraction from a total. his visual acuity has diminished reduce implies a bringing down or lowering. you must reduce your caloric intake abate implies a reducing of something excessive or oppressive in force or amount. the storm abated dwindle implies progressive lessening and is applied to things growing visibly smaller. their provisions dwindled slowly

Examples of decrease in a Sentence

Verb Sales decreased by five percent this year. The driver decreased her speed as she approached the curve. These changes will decrease our expenses. Noun Studies report a recent decrease in traffic accidents. Because of the injury, some decrease in mobility is to be expected. a decrease of three dollars

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb And he was frustrated over being nickel-and-dimed, seeing his wages steadily decrease. — Washington Post, "Uber and Lyft are facing historic driver shortages, leading to steeper fares, longer waits and the highest wages in years," 7 May 2021 This will remain valuable in that the opportunities for women are going to have to increase, not decrease. — Amy Shoenthal, Forbes, "From Investment Banker To Investing In Women’s Careers, Meet The Founder Taking On The She-Cession," 6 May 2021 As drought and climate change decrease what the river provides, the amount allocated to Arizona, California and Nevada is projected to be cut further. — Sam Metz And Ken Ritter, chicagotribune.com, "Las Vegas pushes first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on: ‘The scale of this is pretty unprecedented’," 12 Apr. 2021 As drought and climate change decrease what the river provides, the amount allocated to Arizona, California and Nevada is projected to be cut further. — The Salt Lake Tribune, "Las Vegas pushes to become first city to ban ornamental grass in effort to save water," 11 Apr. 2021 As more people get vaccinated and cases decrease, those extra layers of precaution may change in the future, Bhuyan said. — Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, "Fully vaccinated against COVID-19? Here's what health experts say is safe for you to do," 27 Mar. 2021 Though live, in-person concerts and arts performances are once again on the horizon as coronavirus rates decrease and vaccinations are underway, festival founder Meganne Stepka hopes to keep the virtual event alive in the future. — Anne Nickoloff, cleveland, "48 Hour Virtual Music Fest to celebrate one year of streamed events," 24 Mar. 2021 That's part of a trend as vaccine distribution increases and COVID-19 cases and fatalities decrease. — Howard Fendrich, Chron, "No fans? Some? A mix? Odd sights, sounds of pandemic sports," 10 Mar. 2021 Chihuahua state has been slowly reopening businesses as infections decrease, recently permitting restaurants and bars to stay open past midnight. — Lauren Villagran, USA TODAY, "'Vaccine diplomacy': Should the US share vaccines with Mexico? Biden says not yet," 5 Mar. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Queiroga told reporters this week that the decrease in hospitalizations has eased demand for oxygen and sedatives for intubation. — BostonGlobe.com, "Brazil backs away from the virus brink as deaths top 400,000," 30 Apr. 2021 Safran confirmed its outlook for 2021, which includes an organic decrease in adjusted revenue in the low single digits. — Olivia Bugault, WSJ, "Safran Backs 2021 View After 1Q Revenue Drop," 30 Apr. 2021 Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Florida, and Cleveland are the only cities included in the study that showed a decrease in the number of hate crimes from the first quarter of last year to this year. — Mike Brest, Washington Examiner, "Hate crimes against Asians up 169% in first quarter of 2021," 29 Apr. 2021 Backers of the closure say any potential bump up in New York natural gas generation needs to be considered in context of a decrease in fossil fuel generation since 2016, as well as progress in renewables and energy efficiency. — Michael Hill, Star Tribune, "Gone Fission: Controversial nuke plant near NYC shuts down," 29 Apr. 2021 Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Department reported a 6.8 percent decrease in I.B.’s overall crime rate. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "State of City address: Imperial Beach highlights public safety as priorty," 29 Apr. 2021 Over the last week, California has reported an average of 1,782 new coronavirus cases per day — a 42% decrease from two weeks ago, according to data compiled by The Times. — Luke Money, Los Angeles Times, "Johnson & Johnson vaccine shipments to California resume as COVID cases keep falling," 29 Apr. 2021 The decrease in news coverage for the town council meetings can be countered somewhat by televising the Sykesville Town Meetings which might improve communication. — baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Sykesville election: Candidates for mayor, council answer questions," 29 Apr. 2021 Facebook also warns that customers who opt out of tracking will be excluded from specific targetable audiences, which will result in a decrease in audience sizes. — Chris Smith, BGR, "Facebook just confirmed how badly its iPhone privacy nightmare will hurt," 29 Apr. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'decrease.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.