Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ABATE

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pronounce ABATE: Say it "uh BATE." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: Since it comes from the Latin bauttere, "to beat," our word abate is a cousin to all kinds of words involving literal or figurative beatings. Such as: batter; battle; combat; debate; batt____n ("a group of soldiers, or any large and powerful group"); and h___ de c__bat ("no longer involved in the conflict or competition"). Could you recall those last two? (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: This word has Latin roots that mean "to beat to," as in "to beat back, to make less powerful, or to become smaller." "To become smaller" is the meaning that survived as the Latin abbatere became the English "abate." When something abates, it decreases or shrinks. In other words, to abate is to become smaller, to ease off, or to become less intense. grammatical bits: Part of speech:  It's a verb, the intransitive kind: "The crisis abated;" "The war shows no signs of abating." When you need a transitive verb, use "bate" instead, which arose as a shortened form of "abate" and still survives today, mostly in the phrase "bated breath." ("She waited with bated breath for her test score.") But you can also talk about bating other things--beating them back, making them smaller or less intense--like feelings or hopes. Other forms: abated, abating, abatement how to use it: When we use the word "abate," we're often being serious or formal. It's usually something bad or destructive that abates, and so it's usually good when things abate, like wars, battles, crises, conflicts, disputes, storms, hurricane winds, painful medical symptoms, etc.  Often we complain about something not abating, or about something showing no signs (or few signs) of abating. Although it's usually bad things that abate, you can also say that good or neutral things abate, hinting that those things are powerful or forceful--like storms or hurricane winds. For example, we can say that the demand for a product is abating, or that the public's fascination with some scandal is abating.  examples: "More than 200 people were arrested in one of the worst outbreaks of violence in recent weeks as around five months of protests show no signs of abating."    — Jessie Pang and Clare Jim, Reuters, 2 November 2019 "Mitt Romney entered his 400th consecutive hour of uneasy chuckling Monday, apparently stuck in an endless loop of discomfort and apprehension that so far has shown no sign of abating."    — The Onion, 6 August 2012 has this page helped you understand "abate"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "abate" without saying "dwindle" or "subside." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Something) abated, and with it, (something else)." Example: "The fever abated and with it the doses of the drug."    — Esther Forbes, Johnny Tremain, 1943 If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is "Subject Line Crosswords." We'll revisit some of the email subject lines from 2019 issues, using them as a tool for recall. Each day this month, see if you can complete the mini-crossword with words we studied last year. If you need extra clues, look below the puzzle to view definitions and parts of speech. And I'll share the answers in the following issue. Enjoy! From the previous issue: Extra clues: ACROSS 2. noun meaning "anything so loud, lively, showy, boisterous, and/or passionate that it reminds you of people performing a Spanish courtship dance" 3. adjective meaning "full of joyous excitement, as if boiling or bubbling" DOWN 1. adjective meaning "empty (or practically empty) of any thoughts, ideas, or intelligence" Answers: If you responded with "fatuous" instead of "vacuous" for 1 Down, that would have been just fine. If you like, you can review the words fandango, ebullient, and vacuous. Try this today:  Extra clues: ACROSS 1. adjective meaning "secret, sneaky, and tricky, as if planning to trap things or people" 3. noun meaning "someone with common, lowbrow tastes who doesn't know or care much about arts or culture" DOWN 2. noun meaning "the lowest point, the worst point" review this word: 1. A near opposite of ABATE is A. PAD. B. MAGNIFY. C. ESCALATE. 2. With demand for the product continuing unabated, we're _____. A. pulling it from store shelves B. raising the price and creating new versions C. shipping out the stock on hand but ceasing production 1. C 2. B a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.