attenuate

Definitions

1. 1.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.
2. 2.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.
3. 3.To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen. The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts. Coleridge.
4. 4.Made thin or slender.
5. 5.Made thin or less viscid; rarefied. Bacon.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "attenuate" mean?
• What is another word for "attenuate"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is attenuate.

• What is 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 called?
• What is to become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen. The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts. Coleridge called?
• What is made thin or less viscid; rarefied. Bacon called?