[de.crease] vb de.creased ; de.creas.ing [ME decreessen, fr. (assumed) AF decreistre, fr. L decrescere, fr. de- + crescere to grow--more at crescent] vi (14c): to grow progressively less (as in size, amount, number, or intensity) ~ vt: to cause to decrease -- de.creas.ing.ly adv syn 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".
[2]de.crease n (14c) 1: the process of decreasing
2: an amount of diminution: reduction