variants
also racheted (down)
as in decreased
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually
news stories about the kidnapping will ratchet down as the weeks go by
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ratcheted (down)
Verb
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The average grade of ore has also diminished by around 40% since 1991, BHP says.—
Scott Neuman,
NPR,
16 Mar. 2025 -
The appetite of high street banks for lending has diminished, and investors are now much more focused on profitability and a clear understanding of runway rather than just fueling growth at any cost.—
Paul Klein,
Forbes,
15 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The Latino share of the population in that area, a longtime enclave for Puerto Rican families, has shrunk faster than any other group in the last two decades.—
Winnie Hu,
New York Times,
19 Dec. 2024
-
The economy has shrunk by eighty-five per cent during the civil war.—
Robin Wright,
The New Yorker,
19 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
Yet the portion of Americans who drink has shrunk in recent years.—
Ivana Saric,
Axios,
3 Jan. 2025
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However, commercial whaling may have shrunk their populations in certain areas, such as the northeastern North Atlantic, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
2 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Trees must be felled with dangerous and expensive equipment, dragged up muddy and steep slopes with cables, cut into lengths, loaded onto trucks and hauled.—
William Baldwin,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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In reality, what felled her was not just one gangster’s greed but an entire organization’s—the inheritors of Rothstein’s operation—zeroing in on a mom-and-pop, or at least a mom, business, as big enterprises always do.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Ratcheted (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ratcheted%20%28down%29. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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