From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Lessen \Less"en\ (l[e^]s"'n), verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Lessened} (-'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Lessening}.] [From {Less}, adjective] To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; as, to lessen a kingdom, or a population; to lessen speed, rank, fortune.
Charity . . . shall lessen his punishment. --Calamy.
St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it. --Atterbury.
Syn: To diminish; reduce; abate; decrease; lower; impair; weaken; degrade.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Lessen \Less"en\, verb (used without an object) To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be diminished; as, the apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we recede from them; his care, or his wealth, lessened.
The objection lessens much, and comes to no more than this: there was one witness of no good reputation. --Atterbury.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
verb
1: decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fall to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper" [syn: {decrease}, {diminish}, {fall}] [ant: {increase}]
2: make smaller; "He decreased his staff" [syn: {decrease}, {minify}] [ant: {increase}]
3: wear off or die down; "The pain subsided" [syn: {subside}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
161 Moby Thesaurus words for "lessen": abate, ablate, abrade, abridge, abstract, allay, alleviate, allow for, amputate, anesthetize, appease, assuage, attemper, bank the fire, bate, be eaten away, benumb, blunt, chasten, clip, close, color, compress, constrain, consume, consume away, control, corrode, crop, crumble, curtail, cushion, cut, cut back, cut down, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, deaden the pain, decline, decrease, deduct, deflate, deliquesce, depreciate, depress, derogate, detract, die away, diminish, disparage, dive, downgrade, downplay, drain, drop, drop off, dull, dwindle, ease, ease matters, eat away, ebb, erode, extenuate, extract, fall, fall away, fall off, file away, foment, give relief, gloss over, ignore, impair, keep within bounds, languish, lay, leach, lenify, let up, lighten, lower, lull, make allowance for, melt away, mince, minify, mitigate, moderate, modulate, mollify, numb, obtund, pad, palliate, pare, play down, plummet, plunge, poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, purify, reduce, reduce the temperature, refine, relieve, remove, restrain, retrench, roll back, rub away, run low, sag, salve, scale down, shorten, shrink, simplify, sink, slacken, slake, slow down, slur over, smother, sober, sober down, soft-pedal, soften, soothe, step down, stifle, stupe, subduct, subdue, subside, subtract, suppress, tail off, take away, take from, tame, temper, thin, thin out, tone down, truncate, tune down, underplay, varnish, wane, waste, waste away, weaken, wear, wear away, weed, whitewash, withdraw
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