Diminish vs Increase - What's the difference?
diminish | increase |
To make smaller.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-12-14
, author=Simon Jenkins, authorlink=Simon Jenkins, volume=188, issue=2, page=23
, date=2012-12-21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To become smaller.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken.
* Robynson (More's Utopia)
* Bible, Ezekiel xxix. 15
* Milton
To taper.
To disappear gradually.
To take away; to subtract.
* Bible, Deuteronomy iv. 2
(music) To reduce a perfect or minor interval by a semitone.
(of a quantity) To become larger.
* Bible, Genesis vii. 17
* Shakespeare
To make (a quantity) larger.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, title= To multiply by the production of young; to be fertile, fruitful, or prolific.
* Sir M. Hale
(astronomy) To become more nearly full; to show more of the surface; to wax.
An amount by which a quantity is increased.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= For a quantity, the act or process of becoming larger
(knitting) The creation of one or more new stitches; see .
In lang=en terms the difference between diminish and increase
is that diminish is to disappear gradually while increase is to make (a quantity) larger.As verbs the difference between diminish and increase
is that diminish is to make smaller while increase is (of a quantity) to become larger.As a noun increase is
an amount by which a quantity is increased.diminish
English
Verb
(es)We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys, passage=The threat of terrorism to the British lies in the overreaction to it of British governments. Each one in turn clicks up the ratchet of surveillance, intrusion and security. Each one diminishes liberty.}}
Old soldiers?, passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.
- This doth nothing diminish their opinion.
- I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
- O thou at whose sight all the stars / Hide their diminished heads.
- Neither shall ye diminish aught from it.
Derived terms
* law of diminishing returnsincrease
English
Alternative forms
* encreaseVerb
(increas)- The waters increased and bare up the ark.
- The heavens forbid / But that our loves and comforts should increase , / Even as our days do grow!
Fenella Saunders, magazine=(American Scientist)
Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture, passage=The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.}}
- Fishes are more numerous of increasing than beasts or birds, as appears by their numerous spawn.
- The Moon increases .
Synonyms
* (become larger) go up, grow, rise, soar (rapidly), shoot up (rapidly) * (make larger) increment, raise, (informal) upAntonyms
* (become larger) decrease, drop, fall, go down, plummet (rapidly), plunge (rapidly), reduce, shrink, sink * (make larger) cut, decrease, decrement, lower, reduceDerived terms
* increasableNoun
(en noun)Philip J. Bushnell
Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance, passage=Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.}}
