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Lessen   /lˈɛsən/   Listen
verb
Lessen  v. t.  (past & past part. lessened; pres. part. lessening)  To make less; to reduce; to make smaller, or fewer; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; as, to lessen a kingdom, or a population; to lessen speed, rank, fortune. "Charity... shall lessen his punishment." "St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it."
Synonyms: To diminish; reduce; abate; decrease; lower; impair; weaken; degrade.



Lessen  v. i.  To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be diminished; as, the apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we recede from them; his care, or his wealth, lessened. "The objection lessens much, and comes to no more than this: there was one witness of no good reputation."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Lessen" Quotes from Famous Books



... principles, the primary question as regards Church membership is not connection with the clergy (the bishop). It is rather connection with the community, fellowship with which secures the salvation that may indeed be found outside its pale, but not with certainty. But other causes contributed to lessen the importance of the bishops: the art of casuistry, so far-reaching in its results, was unable to find a fruitful soil here, and the laity were treated in exactly the same way as the clergy. The ultimate difference between Novatian and Cyprian as to the idea of the Church and the power to bind ...
— History of Dogma, Volume 2 (of 7) • Adolph Harnack

... no other than Russia who assists him in these difficulties!" exclaimed Count Manteuffel, in despair. "We must leave nothing undone to lessen the influence of this dangerous enemy, and to win Prussia to Austrian interests. Germany wishes for peace, and Prussia and Austria must be on good terms. If Prussia and Austria were to take up arms against each other, the balance of power in Europe would be destroyed, and a war would be inaugurated ...
— Frederick the Great and His Court • L. Muhlbach

... a relief in bearing testimony in favor of Le Gardeur. "They loved one another like brothers," said he, "and more than brothers. Bigot had corrupted the habits, but could never soil the heart or lessen the love of Le Gardeur for Pierre Philibert, or his respect for the Bourgeois, ...
— The Golden Dog - Le Chien d'Or • William Kirby

... were those nights, with never a blaze upon the hearth or so much as a candle to light them. At four o'clock the darkness came down, which did not lessen, for the moon grew low and the mists were thick, until day broke about seven on the following morning. And all this time, fearing attack, they must keep watch and ward through the gloom, so that ...
— The Lady Of Blossholme • H. Rider Haggard

... ought not to be so particular and vain as not to undertake the pleading of the smaller kind of causes, as beneath him, or as if a matter of less consequence should in any respect lessen the reputation he has acquired. Duty indeed is a just motive for his undertaking them, and he should wish that his friends were never engaged in any other kind of suits, which in the main are set off with sufficient eloquence when he has ...
— The Training of a Public Speaker • Grenville Kleiser


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