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
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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
100 Top "SAT" Words
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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:
This isn’t going to abate as an issue over time, either.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026
Downtown businesses were already struggling when people started buying more retail goods online, a trend that didn’t abate when lockdowns ended, Schuster said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 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
The positive side: several indicators show the selling in Big Tech is likely to abate soon.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
It was bitter cold when we arrived, and the wind did not abate.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
“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
Under the current policy, the city abates 90 percent of property taxes on conversions that set aside at least 25 percent of units as affordable housing.
From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026
After the hubbub abates, Hudson says the hardest part will be knowing that it will be time to say goodbye to the character and the movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
As the drama reaches catharsis, the rain abates and the skies clear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Salvage teams have been notified and will locate and sink the container when the storm abates.
From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin
I’m referring to buying stocks that are beaten down by tax-loss selling in the last quarter of the year, which far more often than not rebound in January after that selling has abated.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 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
“As tariff concerns eased and recession fears abated, the debasement narrative lost momentum,” he added.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
“It’s the predominance of this fear that they’ve heard in the media — and that’s largely abated — that a Democrat won’t make it to the runoff,” Mitchell said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
I’d loaded Jesse’s SnowFlake page because I needed to feel close to him, and they’d taken that away from me, but the need hadn’t abated.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
And so-called core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose by 0.2% in July from the previous month, a relatively modest increase offering hope that broader price pressures could be abating.
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
Key details: Health-care providers created about half of the new jobs in June, a big trend in the past two years that shows no sign of abating.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The fervor to buy SpaceX’s options, despite the extraordinary greed premium, shows no sign of abating.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
When there had been no sign of her behaviour abating after a fortnight or so, I think you will understand that I started to become a little impatient.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
