Attenuate

v. t.	1.	To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies. [imp. & p. p. Attenuated ( ); p. pr. & vb. n. Attenuating ( ).]
	2.	To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or dense; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.
	3.	To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less complex; to weaken. To undersell our rivals . . . has led the manufacturer to . . . attenuate his processes, in the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point. - I. Taylor. We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagerness. - Sir F. Palgrave.
v. i.	1.	To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen. The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts. - Coleridge.
a.	1.	Made thin or slender.
	2.	Made thin or less viscid; rarefied.

Verb	1.	attenuate - weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance) Synonyms: rarefy
	2.	attenuate - become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude
Adj.	1.	attenuate - reduced in strength; "the faded tones of an old recording" Synonyms: attenuated, faded, weakened

Sanforize, abate, adulterate, alleviate, attenuated, baptize, bate, blow off, blunt, cast forth, clear away, constrict, consume, contract, cramp, cripple, cut, damp, dampen, deaden, debilitate, deflate, dematerialize, devitalize, dilute, disable, disembody, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, drive away, dry up, dull, ease, emacerate, emaciate, enervate, enfeeble, etherealize, evaporate, eviscerate, exhaust, expand, extenuate, gruel, irrigate, lay low, lessen, macerate, mitigate, parch, preshrink, rare, rarefied, rarefy, rattle, reduce, reedy, remit, sap, sear, shake, shake up, shrink, shrivel, slacken, slender, slight, slim, soften up, spiritualize, subtile, subtilize, subtle, tenuous, thin, thin away, thin down, thin out, twiggy, unbrace, undermine, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, volatilize, waste, waste away, water, water down, weaken, weazen, wither, wizen

Definitions Index: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

About this site and copyright information - Online Dictionary Home - Privacy Policy