di ‧ min ‧ ish AC /dəˈmɪnɪʃ, dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: diminue (14-16 centuries) , from Old French diminuer , from Latin minuere 'to make less' ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to become or make something become smaller or less SYN reduce :
The party’s share of the electorate has diminished steadily.
These drugs diminish blood flow to the brain.
2 . [transitive] to deliberately make someone or something appear less important or valuable than they really are:
Don’t let him diminish your achievements.
But that’s not to diminish the importance of his discoveries.
3 . diminishing returns when the profits or advantages you are getting from something stop increasing in relation to the effort you are making
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THESAURUS
▪ decrease to become less in number or amount:
The average rainfall has decreased by around 30 percent.
▪ go down to decrease. Go down is less formal than decrease and is the usual word to use in conversation:
Unemployment has gone down in the past few months.
▪ decline formal to decrease – used with numbers or amounts, or about the level or standard of something:
The standard of living has declined.
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Support for the government is steadily declining.
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Salaries have declined by around 4.5%.
▪ diminish to become smaller or less important:
Union membership diminished from 30,000 at its height to just 2,000 today.
▪ fall/drop to decrease, especially by a large amount. Fall and drop are less formal than decrease :
The number of tigers in the wild has fallen to just over 10,000.
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At night, the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees.
▪ plunge /plʌndʒ/ /plummet /ˈplʌmət, ˈplʌmɪt/ to suddenly decrease very quickly and by a very large amount:
Share prices have plummeted 29% in the last four months.
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Climate change could cause global temperatures to plummet.
▪ slide if a price or value slides, it gradually decreases in a way that causes problems – used especially in news reports:
The dollar fell in late trading in New York yesterday and slid further this morning.
▪ dwindle /ˈdwɪndl/ to gradually decrease until there is very little left of something, especially numbers or amounts, popularity, or importance:
Support for the theory is dwindling.
▪ taper off /ˈteɪpə $ -ər/ if a number or the amount of an activity that is happening tapers off, it gradually decreases, especially so that it stops completely:
Political violence tapered off after the elections.