- Abate
- Abate A*bate" ([.a]*b[=a]t"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Abated}, p.
pr. & vb. n. {Abating}.] [OF. abatre to beat down, F.
abattre, LL. abatere; ab or ad + batere, battere (popular
form for L. batuere to beat). Cf. {Bate}, {Batter}.]
1. To beat down; to overthrow. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls. --Edw. Hall. [1913 Webster]
2. To bring down or reduce from a higher to a lower state, number, or degree; to lessen; to diminish; to contract; to moderate; to cut short; as, to abate a demand; to abate pride, zeal, hope. [1913 Webster]
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. --Deut. xxxiv. 7. [1913 Webster]
3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a price. [1913 Webster]
Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds. --Fuller. [1913 Webster]
4. To blunt. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
To abate the edge of envy. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
She hath abated me of half my train. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
6. (Law) (a) To bring entirely down or put an end to; to do away with; as, to abate a nuisance, to abate a writ. (b) (Eng. Law) To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets. [1913 Webster]
{To abate a tax}, to remit it either wholly or in part. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
