Abate
Abate (ȧ*bāt") , transitive verb
[Old French abatre to beat down, French abattre, Late Latin abatere; ab or ad + batere, battere (popular form for Latin batuere to beat). Compare Bate, Batter.]
1.
To beat down; to overthrow. [Obsolete]
The King of Scots... sore abated the walls.
2.
To bring down or reduce from a higher to a lower state, number, or degree; to lessen; to diminish; to contract; to moderate; to cut short; as, to abate a demand; to abate pride, zeal, hope.
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
3.
To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a price.
Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds.
4.
To blunt. [Obsolete]
To abate the edge of envy.
5.
To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obsolete]
She hath abated me of half my train.
6.
(a) (Law) To bring entirely down or put an end to; to do away with; as, to abate a nuisance, to abate a writ.
(b)
(Law) To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets.
Collocations (1)
To abate a tax , to remit it either wholly or in part.
Abate (ȧ*bāt") , intransitive verb
[See Abate, transitive verb]
1.
To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as, pain abates, a storm abates.
The fury of Glengarry... rapidly abated.
2.
To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to fail; as, a writ abates.
Collocations (1)
To abate into a freehold or To abate in lands (Law) , to enter into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, and before the heir takes possession. See Abatement, 4.
Abate (ȧ*bāt") , noun
Abatement. [Obsolete] — Sir T. Browne