I. low ‧ er 1 W3 /ˈləʊə $ ˈloʊər/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ low , ↑ lower , ↑ lowly ; verb : lower; noun : ↑ low ; adverb : ↑ low ]
1 . [only before noun] below something else, especially below something of the same type OPP upper :
Nina chewed her lower lip anxiously.
Ruth went down to the lower deck (=lower level on a ship) .
your lower limbs (=your legs)
2 . [only before noun] at or near the bottom of something OPP upper :
the lower slopes of the mountain
She suffers with pain in her lower back.
3 . smaller in number or amount OPP higher :
Temperatures will be lower over the weekend.
4 . [only before noun] less important than something else of the same type OPP higher :
the lower levels of management
II. lower 2 S3 W3 BrE AmE verb
1 . REDUCE [intransitive and transitive] to reduce something in amount, degree, strength etc, or to become less:
Do you think we should lower the price?
After 20 minutes lower the temperature to 325°.
drugs to lower blood pressure
Helen lowered her voice (=made it quieter) as they approached.
His voice lowered (=became quieter) .
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say that someone turns down the temperature or volume rather than lowers it:
▪
Can you turn the heating down?
2 . MOVE DOWN [transitive] to move something down from higher up OPP raise :
Very gently, he lowered the dog onto the rug by the fire.
The flags were lowered to half-mast.
Greg watched as the coffin was lowered.
lower yourself
He lowered himself carefully down from the top of the wall.
3 . lower your eyes/head to look down OPP raise :
Christina blushed and lowered her eyes.
4 . lower yourself [usually in negatives] to behave in a way that makes people respect you less:
I wouldn’t lower myself to speak to her after what she’s done.
5 . lower the tone (of something) to make something not as nice as it was:
They thought an influx of students would lower the tone of the neighborhood.
Trust you to lower the tone of the conversation (=include rude jokes etc in what you say) !
—lowered adjective :
He leaned forward and spoke in a lowered voice.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ to reduce prices, numbers, or amounts
▪ reduce to make the price, amount, or size of something less or smaller:
The price was reduced by 50%.
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We need to reduce the amount of salt in our diet.
▪ cut to reduce something, especially by a large amount – used about prices, costs, jobs, or the time needed to do something:
Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs.
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The journey time will be cut to under 2 hours.
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Staff numbers have been cut by half to about 150.
▪ lower to reduce the level, limit, or amount of something. Lower sounds rather formal:
The voting age was lowered to 18.
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The government decided to lower interest rates by 0.5%.
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After twenty minutes, lower the temperature to 150 degrees.
▪ bring something down to reduce something such as prices or costs, or reduce the level of something. Bring something down is less formal than lower :
The government wants to bring down the level of inflation.
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The company is trying to bring its costs down.
▪ slash informal to reduce an amount or price by a very large amount – used especially in newspapers and advertisements:
Public spending has been slashed over the past two years.
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Prices slashed for one week only!
▪ cut something back to reduce the amount of something – used especially about people deciding to spend less, do less, or use less of something:
The education budget has been cut back again.
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I need to cut back on my workload.
▪ downsize to reduce the number of people employed in order to reduce costs – used about a company or organization:
The company is planning to downsize its European operations.
▪ scale something down/back to reduce the size or the amount of money that is being spent on something:
The research programme has been scaled down.
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The navy is being scaled down.
▪ relieve/ease to make pain or feelings less unpleasant:
The drug is used to relieve pain.
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A joke can help to ease the tension.
▪ alleviate formal to reduce pain or suffering, or make a problem less serious:
You can buy various medicines to alleviate the symptoms of flu.
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The new road was supposed to alleviate the congestion problem.
III. low ‧ er 3 BrE AmE ( also lour British English ) /ˈlaʊə $ -ər/ verb [intransitive] literary
1 . when the sky or the weather lowers, it becomes dark because there is going to be a storm SYN darken :
lowering clouds
2 . to look threatening or annoyed SYN frown :
The other driver lowered at us as we passed him.