Verb
You can dilute the medicine with water.
The hiring of the new CEO diluted the power of the company's president. diluting the quality of our productsAdjective
a dilute solution of acid
a dilute acid that's safe to handle in the classroom
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Even most bulls don’t dispute his hefty price cuts will dilute margins from their recent levels of close to 30%.—Bychristiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 20 Jan. 2023 His petition to expand the grid has been met by fierce resistance from existing F1 teams who have argued an 11th team will dramatically dilute their revenues.—Jenna Fryer, Detroit Free Press, 6 Jan. 2023 Translators have, of course, found ways to obscure and dilute such language.—Stephanie Mccarter, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2022 Diminish those things that will create confusion and dilute the potency of your new-and-improved brand so that you are fully repositioned for new-and-improved roles.—William Arruda, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2022 His large salaries will crimp the payroll, while the loss of five draft picks, headed by two premium chips the Chiefs spent last April, will dilute the talent pipeline.—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Oct. 2022 That water will help dilute sewage in the lines, keeping it moving faster to the treatment plant and reducing the smell.—Connor Giffin, The Courier-Journal, 29 Sep. 2022 Some traditionalists, however, believe too many amenities can dilute the camping experience.—Seth Berkman Mike Belleme, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2022 State lawyers argued the new boundaries do not dilute votes in Cameron County, and that Cameron got the number of districts it was constitutionally entitled to.—Dallas News, 21 Jan. 2022
Adjective
Vinegar, which is really dilute acetic acid, will help the milk curdle by further denaturing the whey proteins and neutralizing negative charges at the surface of casein micelles.—Liz Roth-johnson, Discover Magazine, 12 Feb. 2013 However toxic a substance may be, the amount of exposure received by the general population is very dilute.—George Johnson, Discover Magazine, 8 July 2013 For example, Wilson’s team is exploring whether dilute acids speed up weathering.—Robert F. Service, Science | AAAS, 3 Sep. 2020 The company reported a net loss during the first quarter of $3.9 million, or 11 cents diluted loss per share, compared to a net income of $4.3 million, or 12 cents dilute earnings per share over the same period last year.—Paul Takahashi, Houston Chronicle, 5 June 2018 Tests pick it up even in dilute wastewater,'' the story reports.—Bob Warren, NOLA.com, 15 Apr. 2018 Of the plants previously watered with very dilute vinegar, 70 percent survived while almost none of those that were given other acids or only water did.—Carolyln Wilke, sacbee, 30 June 2017 A dilute sample is when a player drinks so much water, the urine test administered is ineffective because of the excess water consumption.—Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com, 16 May 2017 Dallas Cowboys Bob’s pick: Jabril Peppers, DB/LB, Michigan Comment: A dilute sample on a drug test might cause some teams pause about Peppers.—Jayson Jenks, The Seattle Times, 27 Apr. 2017 See More
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dilute.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Word History
Etymology
Verb and Adjective
Latin dilutus, past participle of diluere to wash away, dilute, from di- + lavere to wash — more at lye
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