lower

1
[ loh-er ]
See synonyms for: lowerloweredlowering on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to cause to descend; let or put down: to lower a flag.

  2. to make lower in height or level: to lower the water in a canal.

  1. to reduce in amount, price, degree, force, etc.

  2. to make less loud: Please lower your voice.

  3. to bring down in rank or estimation; degrade; humble; abase (oneself), as by some sacrifice of self-respect or dignity: His bad actions lowered him in my eyes.

  4. Music. to make lower in pitch; flatten.

  5. Phonetics. to alter the articulation of (a vowel) by increasing the distance of the tongue downward from the palate: The vowel of “clerk” is lowered to (ä) in the British pronunciation.

verb (used without object)
  1. to become lower, grow less, or diminish, as in amount, intensity, or degree: The brook lowers in early summer. Stock prices rise and lower constantly.

  2. to descend; sink: the sun lowering in the west.

adjective
  1. comparative of low1.

  2. of or relating to those portions of a river farthest from the source.

  1. (often initial capital letter)Stratigraphy. noting an early division of a period, system, or the like: the Lower Devonian.

noun
  1. a denture for the lower jaw.

  2. a lower berth.

Origin of lower

1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English, comparative of low1 (adjective)

Other words for lower

Opposites for lower

Other words from lower

  • low·er·a·ble, adjective

Words Nearby lower

Other definitions for lower (2 of 2)

lower2
[ lou-er, louuhr ]

verb (used without object)
  1. to be dark and threatening, as the sky or the weather.

  2. to frown, scowl, or look sullen; glower: He lowers at people when he's in a bad mood.

noun
  1. a dark, threatening appearance, as of the sky or weather.

  2. a frown or scowl.

Origin of lower

2
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb louren “to frown, lurk”; akin to German lauern, Dutch loeren; see lurk
  • Also lour [louuhr, lou-er] /laʊər, ˈlaʊ ər/ .

Other words for lower

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lower in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lower (1 of 2)

lower1

/ (ˈləʊə) /


adjective
  1. being below one or more other things: the lower shelf; the lower animals

  2. reduced in amount or value: a lower price

  1. maths (of a limit or bound) less than or equal to one or more numbers or variables

  2. (sometimes capital) geology denoting the early part or division of a period, system, formation, etc: Lower Silurian

verb
  1. (tr) to cause to become low or on a lower level; bring, put, or cause to move down

  2. (tr) to reduce or bring down in estimation, dignity, value, etc: to lower oneself

  1. to reduce or be reduced: to lower one's confidence

  2. (tr) to make quieter: to lower the radio

  3. (tr) to reduce the pitch of

  4. (tr) phonetics to modify the articulation of (a vowel) by bringing the tongue further away from the roof of the mouth

  5. (intr) to diminish or become less

Origin of lower

1
C12 (comparative of low 1); C17 (vb)

Derived forms of lower

  • lowerable, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for lower (2 of 2)

lower2

lour

/ (ˈlaʊə) /


verb(intr)
  1. (esp of the sky, weather, etc) to be overcast, dark, and menacing

  2. to scowl or frown

noun
  1. a menacing scowl or appearance

Derived forms of lower

  • lowering or louring, adjective
  • loweringly or louringly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for lower

lower

[ ər ]


  1. Being an earlier division of the geological or archaeological period named. Compare upper.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.