ratcheting (down)

verb

variants also racheting (down)
present participle of ratchet (down)
as in decreasing
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 ratcheting (down)
  1. decreasing
  2. diminishing
  3. ebbing
  4. shrinking
  5. tapering off
  6. falling away
  7. declining
  8. letting up
Verb
  • Increasing exercise and decreasing calories while focusing on building muscle mass may help.
    — Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Oil companies realized that many employees were off sick with malaria, decreasing their productivity.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of decreasing
Verb
  • Kikuchi makes Haru’s occasionally mortifying romantic pursuit both funny and affecting, embracing the character’s impulsive, sometimes ridiculous behavior without diminishing the depth of her loss.
    — Lisa Wong Macabasco, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The good news is that its strongest winds and heaviest rain will remain over the Atlantic, with impacts along our coastline gradually diminishing.
    — Kate Bilo, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of diminishing
Verb
  • The autocracies are surging, and democracies ebbing.
    — Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
  • That number has fluctuated from a high of 115,000 in May to a low of about 16,000 on the day before this column was published, ebbing and flowing as tickets were purchased, new batches were released and FIFA (maybe) pulled back others.
    — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 10 June 2026
Definition of ebbing
Verb
  • Neither candidate reached the majority needed to win outright, forcing both campaigns to compete for a shrinking pool of undecided voters while trying to mobilize their supporters in a country deeply divided over its political future.
    — Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Demographic data expose disparities that raw numbers can obscure and show whether those gaps are growing or shrinking.
    — Julie Morita, Time, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of shrinking
Verb
  • How long tapering off testosterone takes Recovery is not uniform.
    — Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Not doing so and focusing just on sandals and flip-flops means the brand peaks in the spring-summer, and then see the business tapering off in the fall.
    — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of tapering off
Verb
  • My belief is that Benedict literally thought that the historic falling away from the church during his papacy was a sign of the end times.
    — David Gibson, The Verge, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The gatekeepers who controlled which stories were told to the wider public are falling away.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of falling away
Verb
  • Chinese firms have been suffering from declining profit growth amid intense competition that has eroded margins and even invited the government to step in.
    — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
  • While program closures at colleges and universities often result from declining enrollment or a financial crisis, our decisions at Valencia are driven by neither.
    — Kathleen Plinske, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of declining
Verb
  • Hardware demand Despite these concerns, the sector's hunger for chips doesn't seem to be letting up, as seen in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's record quarter.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
  • With protests against the moves beginning to take shape, the crackdowns show no signs of letting up, even as international attention and condemnation begins to pour in.
    — Chris Massaro, FOXNews.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of letting up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

ratcheted (up)
ratcheting (down)
ratcheting (up)
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Cite this Entry

“Ratcheting (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ratcheting%20%28down%29. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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