A*bate (&adot;*bāt"), n. Abatement. [Obs.]
Sir T. Browne.
A*bate" (&adot;*bāt"), v. i. [See Abate, v. t.]
1. To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as, pain abates, a storm abates.
The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly
abated.
Macaulay.
2.
To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to fail; as, a writ abates.
To abate into a freehold, To abate in lands (Law), to enter into a
freehold after the death of
the last possessor, and before the heir takes possession. See Abatement,
4.
Syn. -- To
subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish; lessen. -- To Abate, Subside. These words, as here compared, imply a coming down from some previously raised or excited state. Abate expresses this in respect to
degrees, and implies a diminution of force or of intensity; as, the storm abates, the cold abates, the force of
the wind abates; or, the wind
abates, a fever
abates. Subside (to settle down) has reference to a previous state of agitation or commotion; as, the waves subside after a storm, the wind subsides into a calm. When the words are used figuratively, the same distinction should be observed. If we
conceive of a thing as having different degrees of intensity or strength, the word to be used is abate. Thus we say, a man's anger
abates, the ardor of one's love abates, "Winter's rage abates". But if the image be that
of a sinking down into quiet from preceding excitement or commotion, the word to be used
is subside; as, the tumult of the
people subsides, the public mind subsided into a calm. The same is the case with
those emotions which are tumultuous in their nature; as, his passion subsides, his joy quickly subsided, his grief subsided into a pleasing melancholy. Yet if, in such
cases, we were thinking of the degree of
violence of the emotion, we might use
abate; as, his joy will
abate in the progress of time; and so in other
instances.
A*bate" (&adot;*bāt"), 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.]
The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls.
Edw. Hall.
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.
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force
abated.
Deut. xxxiv. 7.
3. To deduct; to omit; as, to
abate something from a price.
Nine thousand parishes,
abating the odd
hundreds.
Fuller.
4. To blunt. [Obs.]
To abate the edge of envy.
Bacon.
5.
To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obs.]
She hath
abated me of half my train.
Shak.
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.
To abate a tax, to remit it either wholly or in part.
Hear it pronounced