Meaning & use
abate
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Meanings
verbintransitiveformal
To become less strong, severe, loud, or intense over time.
Grammar: No object; often followed by after, over, or during: The pain abated after treatment.
Patterns
- storms abate
- pain abates after something
- noise abates over time
The wind abated during the night, and the harbor was calm by dawn.
Her anxiety abated after she heard the test results.
When the applause abated, the speaker continued.
verbtransitiveformallegal
To make something less forceful, troublesome, or severe, especially in official or legal contexts.
Grammar: Takes an object: abate a nuisance; contrast the intransitive The storm abated.
Patterns
- abate a nuisance
- abate noise
- abate taxes or penalties
The city ordered the factory to abate the noise affecting nearby homes.
Courts may require a landlord to abate conditions that endanger tenants.
The council voted to abate penalties for first-time violations.
Word forms
| third person singular | abates |
|---|---|
| past tense | abated |
| past participle | abated |
| -ing form | abating |
Common combinations
- abate after a storm
- Flooding often abates after a storm when the drains clear.
- abate a nuisance
- The notice required the owner to abate a nuisance caused by smoke.
- slowly abate
- Public anger slowly abated as repairs began.
- abate overnight
- The fever did not abate overnight, so she called the clinic.
Synonyms and how they differ
- subside
- Best for storms, water, pain, or emotions going down naturally; usually intransitive, unlike abate a nuisance.
- diminish
- More neutral and common; can mean reduce in size, amount, or importance, not only force or severity.
- moderate
- Often means make something less extreme; can sound like deliberate control rather than natural lessening.
- mitigate
- Formal, emphasizes reducing harm, damage, or severity, especially of a problem or punishment.
Opposites
Word family
- abatement noun
- The act or result of abating; a formal lessening of force, nuisance, tax, or penalty.
- abatable adjective
- Rare; capable of being abated, mostly in legal or technical writing.
Commonly confused: abate or bate?
abate vs bate
Bate is a separate, old-fashioned verb meaning to restrain or lessen, as in with bated breath; abate means lessen or subside.
Practice
Choose the natural sentence.
Choose one answer.
Here abate is intransitive: the storm becomes less severe. Options with an object change the grammar or add an unnecessary preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “abate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.