decrease²

B1 Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /dɪˈkɹiːs/ UK /dɪˈkɹiːs/ See IPA manual

verb

Audio for this pronunciation isn’t available yet.

Homographs: decrease¹ /ˈdiːkɹiːs/ — noun

Pronunciation and word origins: Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Freq #18075

Meanings

1

verb
To become smaller in amount, size, or number.

The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester.
2

verb
To make something smaller in amount or number.

They decreased the staff because of budget problems.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to become smaller in... fall drop

2 verb · to make something smaller... reduce lessen

Etymology

From Middle English decresen, alteration of discresen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French descreistre (French: décroître), from Latin decrescere.

Topics

Cause, Change & Process

External links

markdown