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Attenuate vs Dampen - What's the difference?

attenuate | dampen |

In transitive terms the difference between attenuate and dampen

is that attenuate is to rarefy while dampen is to depress; to check; to make dull; to lessen.

As an adjective attenuate

is gradually tapering into a petiole-like extension toward the base.

attenuate

English

Verb

(attenuat)
  • To reduce in size, force, value, amount, or degree.
  • * 1874 , , Far From the Madding Crowd , ch. 40:
    • A manor-house clock from the far depths of shadow struck the hour, one, in a small, attenuated tone.
  • To make thinner, as by physically reshaping, starving, or decaying.
  • * 1899 , , His New Mittens , ch. 4:
    • Clumps of attenuated turkeys were suspended here and there.
  • * 1906 , , The Malefactor , ch. 1:
    • Lovell, wan and hollow-eyed, his arm in a sling, his once burly frame gaunt and attenuated with disease, nodded.
  • To weaken.
  • * Coleridge
    • The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts.
  • * Sir F. Palgrave
    • We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagreness.
  • To rarefy.
  • * 1901 , , The First Men in the Moon , ch. 23:
    • "It speedily became apparent that the entire strangeness of our circumstances and surroundings—great loss of weight, attenuated but highly oxygenated air, consequent exaggeration of the results of muscular effort, rapid development of weird plants from obscure spores, lurid sky—was exciting my companion unduly."
  • (medicine) To reduce the virulence of a bacteria or virus.
  • (electronics) To reduce the amplitude of an electrical signal.

    • Antonyms

    * amplify (electronics)

    Derived terms

    * attenuation * attenuable

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (botany, of leaves) Gradually tapering into a petiole-like extension toward the base.
    • ----

    dampen

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make damp or moist; to make slightly wet.
  • To depress; to check; to make dull; to lessen.
  • * The Century
    • In a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm.
  • * 2007 October 16, Jane E. Brody, “Despite Strides, Listeria Needs Vigilance”, ,
    • Pregnant women are 20 times as likely as other healthy young women to contract listeriosis, probably because in pregnancy the immune system is dampened to prevent rejection of the fetus.
  • To become damp; to deaden.

    • Anagrams

    * * English ergative verbs ----