abate
Americanverb (used with object)
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abates,
present (3rd person singular)
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abated,
past participle, past
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abating
present participle
-
to reduce in amount, degree, intensity, etc.; lessen; diminish: to abate one's enthusiasm.
to abate a tax;
to abate one's enthusiasm.
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Law.
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to put an end to or suppress (a nuisance).
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to suspend or extinguish (an action).
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to annul (a writ).
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to deduct or subtract.
to abate part of the cost.
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to omit.
to abate all mention of names.
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to remove, as in stone carving, or hammer down, as in metalwork, (a portion of a surface) in order to produce a figure or pattern in low relief.
verb (used without object)
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abates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
abated,
past participle, past
-
abating
present participle
verb
-
to make or become less in amount, intensity, degree, etc
the storm has abated
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(tr) law
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to remove, suppress, or terminate (a nuisance)
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to suspend or extinguish (a claim or action)
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to annul (a writ)
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(intr) law (of a writ, legal action, etc) to become null and void
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(tr) to subtract or deduct, as part of a price
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abatesimple
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abatessimple
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have abatedperfect
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has abatedperfect
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am abatingprogressive
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are abatingprogressive
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is abatingprogressive
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have been abatingperfect progressive
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has been abatingperfect progressive
Past
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abatedsimple
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had abatedperfect
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was abatingprogressive
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were abatingprogressive
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had been abatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abate
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French abatre “to beat down,” equivalent to a- a- 5 + batre, from Late Latin batere for Latin battuere “to beat”; a- perhaps also understood as a- 3
Explanation
Something that abates becomes fewer or less intense. Your enthusiasm for skiing might abate after falling off a ski lift and getting a mouthful of snow. Abate comes from the Old French verb abattre, "to beat down," and means to reduce or become less intense or numerous. As an intransitive verb, it is often used with something physically, emotionally, or figuratively violent, as in "the flood of fan mail began to abate." Using it transitively, if you take measures to abate pollution or noise, you reduce them. Pronounce abate with the stress on the second syllable (uh-BATE).
Vocabulary lists containing abate
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Hatchet
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Losses could abate if interest rates decline and economic activity remains robust without pushing inflation higher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Tractor Supply is dialing up promotions and trimming prices on popular items after concluding consumer belt-tightening won’t abate anytime soon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial Corp., thinks Warsh could start to lay out the case for a resumption of interest-rate cuts once inflation pressures have begun to abate.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 14, 2026
Fed officials would typically look through this oil shock because, presumably, when the latest conflict in the Middle East subsides, the inflationary surge will abate as well.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
How long I scramble along dodging the fireballs I can't say, but the attacks finally begin to abate.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
“This year, investors have been more sensitive to Shopify’s cost management and margin dilution, and we believe today’s print largely abates those concerns, and establishes an upward trajectory for FCF margins going forward,” Shao wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
“If the conflict abates by Monday sundown, coinciding with the start of the Jewish holiday Purim, the oil price spike could prove short-lived,” Kaneva wrote.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
Many economists expect stronger economic growth next year, especially if anxiety about fast-changing tariffs abates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
Then, in the depths of a recession, debts are settled, panic abates, green shoots appear, and banks begin lending more easily again — fueling a recovery that enables a new upswing.
From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
The wind abates, the sun comes out, the trail across is flat—frozen seawater—and the dogs are well rested.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
“This property should have been proactively secured and abated long before a fire made the danger impossible to ignore.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
While attacks at the Strait of Hormuz have abated for now, those at the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea have turned deadly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The frenzied scenes around this clammy building eventually abated, only for Faye Rogers to spark more bedlam with a rampant gold in the 200m individual medley SM10.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
“We were rightly skeptical about this so-called Sell America trade. As tariff concerns eased and recession fears abated, the debasement narrative lost momentum,” Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said in commentary shared with MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 28, 2026
The wind had somewhat abated but was still blowing.
From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
Second is a recovery in catalysis alongside abating forex headwinds that should let Clariant generate good earnings growth in 2027, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
While the wildfires show no sign of abating soon, the UK Foreign Office is currently not advising against travel to France or Spain.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
The war in the Middle East — the most recent, and most severe, energy jolt — is showing no signs of abating.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
Interest in options is at the highest level in market history with no signs of abating.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
He saw that he had a donor he could trust, maybe a WL who could be educated about the real challenges of abating poverty.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
