A*bate" (&adot;*bāt"), v. t.
[imp. & p. p. Abated, p. pr. & vb.
n. Abating.] [OF. abatre to beat down, F.
abattre, LL. abatere; ab or ad + batere,
battere (popular form for L. batuere to beat). Cf.
Bate, Batter.] 1. To beat down; to
overthrow. [Obs.]
The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls.
Edw. Hall.
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.
Deut. xxxiv. 7.
3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate
something from a price.
Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds.
Fuller.
4. To blunt. [Obs.]
To abate the edge of envy.
Bacon.
5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive.
[Obs.]
She hath abated me of half my train.
Shak.
6. (Law) (a) To bring
entirely down or put an end to; to do away with; as, to abate a
nuisance, to abate a writ. (b) (Eng.
Law) To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable to be
abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of
assets.
To abate a tax, to remit it either wholly or in
part.
A*bate" (&adot;*bāt"), v. i. [See
Abate, v. t.] 1. To decrease,
or become less in strength or violence; as, pain abates, a storm
abates.
The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly abated.
Macaulay.
2. To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall
through; to fail; as, a writ abates.
To abate into a freehold, 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.
Syn. -- To subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish;
lessen. -- To Abate, Subside. These words, as here compared,
imply a coming down from some previously raised or excited state.
Abate expresses this in respect to degrees, and implies a diminution
of force or of intensity; as, the storm abates, the cold
abates, the force of the wind abates; or, the wind
abates, a fever abates. Subside (to settle down) has
reference to a previous state of agitation or commotion; as, the waves
subside after a storm, the wind subsides into a calm. When
the words are used figuratively, the same distinction should be observed.
If we conceive of a thing as having different degrees of intensity or
strength, the word to be used is abate. Thus we say, a man's anger
abates, the ardor of one's love abates, "Winter's rage
abates". But if the image be that of a sinking down into quiet from
preceding excitement or commotion, the word to be used is subside;
as, the tumult of the people subsides, the public mind
subsided into a calm. The same is the case with those emotions which
are tumultuous in their nature; as, his passion subsides, his joy
quickly subsided, his grief subsided into a pleasing
melancholy. Yet if, in such cases, we were thinking of the degree of
violence of the emotion, we might use abate; as, his joy will
abate in the progress of time; and so in other instances.
A*bate (&adot;*bāt"), n.
Abatement. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
