as in to decrease
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually
you'll find the symptoms begin tapering gradually about 24 hours after you take the medicine
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Recent Examples of taper
Plus, the side walls are slightly tapered to regulate heat and evaporation, which allows steam to escape more quickly and helps with flipping food in the pan.
—
Izzy Baskette, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2025
The style features an exaggerated fit that balloons out from the hip before tapering at the ankle, creating a sculptural, banana-like silhouette, according to British Vogue.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Many full-size van models also lack the necessary width for a transverse rear bed, tapering in toward the roof to cut width below what's necessary for a builder to install a transverse bed in the over-load floor space.
—New Atlas, 27 Aug. 2025
Employment peaked at 42,000 before tapering as the line itself grew more efficient.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for taper
Izzy Baskette, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2025
The style features an exaggerated fit that balloons out from the hip before tapering at the ankle, creating a sculptural, banana-like silhouette, according to British Vogue.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Many full-size van models also lack the necessary width for a transverse rear bed, tapering in toward the roof to cut width below what's necessary for a builder to install a transverse bed in the over-load floor space.
—New Atlas, 27 Aug. 2025
Employment peaked at 42,000 before tapering as the line itself grew more efficient.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for taper
Recent Examples of Synonyms for taper
Verb
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They’re formulated with hydrating ingredients designed to decrease puffiness and help with dark circles.—
Isabel Garcia,
PEOPLE,
12 Sep. 2025
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Darrow says the orchard’s acreage has decreased by half, mirroring the state’s overall decline since 2000.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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From the Luddites smashing looms in 19th-century England to autoworkers walking out over the introduction of robots to the factory floor in the 1980s, resistance has flared before either being crushed or subsiding, giving way to the new economies and social orders the technologies ushered in.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
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The pharmaceutical company’s shares traded as high as $942 last summer, but have subsided to about $755.—
John Dorfman,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But with Burrow now looking likely to miss the majority of the regular season, those chances look severely diminished.—
Ben Morse,
CNN Money,
16 Sep. 2025
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One potential problem with this set-up is that the SCORE Act diminishes the role of state law in subject areas traditionally governed by states.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This was a week dedicated to the passage of several bills that would ease regulations on prominent appliances.—
Jeremy Lott,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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However, some pressures have eased compared with a year ago.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The window to restructure human systems to operate within planetary boundaries is shrinking.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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Steadily, climate modelers shrank the grid boxes and incorporated more complex effects, such as those of atmospheric dust.—
Zack Savitsky,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Ross, one of the Democrats to decline AIPAC money, is a relative centrist, according to a GovTrack scorecard, while Foushee and McGarvey, Kentucky’s only House Democrat, are in the middle of the pack ideologically.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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That has declined over the years because of budget constraints.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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New residential property prices fell year-on-year during August in 65 out of 70 cities surveyed by the NBS, data also showed.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
15 Sep. 2025
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Penske’s complaint argues that practice isn’t a fair exchange and has caused significant financial harm, with the company’s affiliate revenue falling by more than a third (as a result of Google’s AI Overviews co-opting traffic that might have otherwise gone to Penske outlets).—
Andy Meek,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Taper.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taper. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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